Dredmond Manor II: Billionaire's Revenge
by The Rockologist
Summary: STORY COMPLETE! Rouge has been captured by someone we all thought was dead. Now, Sonic and the gang have to collect the Chaos Emeralds to save her. Last Chapter: Knux finally proposes to Rouge!
1. A Proposal, or not

Hello all, and welcome to the first (slightly long) chapter of the sequel to "Dredmond Manor." I highly suggest you read that story before this one, lest you be confused the whole way through.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic or any of those people. They belong to Sonic Team and Sega. I do, however, own Niagera (It's me you fools!), James, and...that's about it.  
  
Chapter 1: A Proposal...or not  
  
The secret GUN military base was quiet. After making sure that all the weapons had been properly stored and kept safe from the outside world, the base's nine hundred recruits retired for the night. The only sound that could be heard was the dust and dirt being kicked up by the night guards outside the base as they marched back and forth with their rifles poised, ready to attack any intruders. Not that it mattered. The base never saw intruders out here in the middle of the desert. Knowledge of the base was scarcer than a passing grade in calculus.  
  
At least, that's what the guards thought.  
  
It was two hours after everyone went to bed. The sky was filled with thousands of stars. One of the guards was neglecting his duty and started stargazing. "Hey, Frank, ever wonder how many of them star things are up there?"  
  
"Pete, we've discussed this many times," Frank said. "It's against the rules to stargaze while we need to guard the base."  
  
Pete rolled his eyes and set his rifle down onto the ground. "Yeah, right. No one knows about this place. The President might've even forgotten that it exists." He went back to stargazing. "Look at them, millions of 'em. Alpha Centauri, Betelgeuse, Rigel..." he trailed off and looked at an unusual blinking light among the stars. "Hey, Frank, there's something funny about that one." He pointed to the blinking light.  
  
Frank shrugged it off. "It's probably one that's dying. Light takes thousands of years to get from the star to us, you know," he said.  
  
Pete kept gazing at the blinking light. It became more distinct, as well as brighter. A faint sound could be heard in the distance. "I hear something," Pete said, cocking his rifle. "Sounds like..."  
  
They listened. The sound grew louder. "A helicopter!" Frank shouted. He pressed a button on his command post. "Chief, we have an intruder alert. An unauthorized helicopter has been spotted in---"  
  
A hail of bullets from the helicopter suddenly tore through Frank. Pete screamed and aimed at the oncoming enemy. Just before he pulled the trigger, he felt a bullet tear right through his kneecap. He fell to the ground.  
  
The helicopter was very close now. Pete could see it distinctly: It was a modified Apache attack-copter, armed with a machine gun, missiles and a bazooka. The black helicopter passed right over Pete and started shooting up the base. Alarms went off. Hundreds of men started pouring out of the GUN building, rifles aimed at the intruder.  
  
A missile suddenly was shot from the copter's cannon, destroying a large, steel container filled with waste arms. The arms caught fire and exploded, sending a huge ball of fire spinning throughout the base.  
  
The two pilots in the copter seemed to be having a good time. "James," said the pilot, "It's time to find that dish!"  
  
The pilot jerked the navigation stick forward and the copter flew ahead. Suddenly, several bullets came crashing through the windshield, shattering it. The pilot covered his eyes and lost control of the copter. The machine spun out of control and almost clipped one of its rotors on the ground. A moment later, the pilot regained control. "So, they want to play rough, eh?" He pressed a button on the control panel. "We'll see how they like my newest invention."  
  
A large sphere fell from the copter's cargo bay. It landed on the ground. A drill bit popped out of one end, allowing the thing to burrow into the ground. After digging for about twelve feet, it exploded. The ground shook and several buildings were destroyed. Dozens of men were caught in the fray as the ground collapsed from beneath them.  
  
"Ha!" the pilot cackled as he flew the copter to a large, domed building. "Missiles away!" A dozen small missiles fired from a gun barrel outside of the copter. They headed for the dome.  
  
More shots came from the guards. The pilot rolled his eyes. "Don't these guys give up?" he controlled the copter so that it hovered over the armed men. He pressed a button on the control stick and the machine gun sent thousands of bullets flying everywhere, tearing through the men.  
  
An explosion sounded. The pilot looked to see that the large dome had been destroyed. A large satellite dish had been revealed. He smiled. "Pay dirt." He flew the copter over to the dome. A winch unrolled from under the copter. A powerful magnet at the end of the winch attached itself to the dish. Once the line was tight, the copter ascended.  
  
"He's stealing the dish!" cried one of the guards. More men gathered and fired at the helicopter.  
  
The pilot fired more missiles, blowing more people away. The line became tight and the satellite dish was lifted from its base. "Yes!" the pilot maneuvered the copter away from the base, careful as to not drop the dish.  
  
More shots were fired. The pilot became annoyed. "Oh, will you shut the hell up?" He pressed a button on the control panel and a huge bomb descended onto the base. It landed and exploded, creating a huge mushroom cloud and destroying the base.  
  
The pilot smiled. "See, James," he said. "I told you that getting this dish would only take a few minutes."  
  
***  
  
Night fell upon the City of Station Square. Lights from the buildings lit up the majestic skyline. Knuckles the echidna, wearing a fine black suit, was pacing back and forth in front of Le Nook Restaurant, the most expensive, luxurious restaurant in Station Square. "What if she says 'no'?" Knuckles said to himself. "No, she has to say 'yes.' She loves me, after all..."  
  
He stopped mumbling and looked down the street for any oncoming taxi. "Where is she? Oh no! Maybe she found out and won't come! No, don't go scaring yourself." He started pacing back and forth again. "Almost every man goes through this at least once in his life, why should I be any different?"  
  
A yellow taxicab pulled up in front of the restaurant. Rouge the bat, wearing a long, waist-hugging dress, emerged from the vehicle. Knuckles saw her and walked over. "Good evening, Rouge, you look beautiful tonight," he said, trying to act casual even though he was incredibly nervous.  
  
Rouge smiled and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "You don't look too bad yourself, Knucklehead," she said. She chuckled and took his arm. "Shall we go?"  
  
Knuckles put his arm out in front. "After you," he said. Rouge gave him a sly smile and did something that made him jump as he passed. "Hey," he said, rubbing the spot where Rouge had pinched him, "That hurt!"  
  
Rouge laughed out loud. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself," she replied, smiling slyly.  
  
The couple entered the restaurant. The lights were dimmed. Relaxing music was playing. Waiters dressed in very expensive outfits served the guests. Knuckles and Rouge were led to a small booth, large enough to fit only two people. Most of the light was supplied by four tall candles in a sterling silver candelabra in the center of the table. The forks and knives had been set up on silk napkins, ready to be used.  
  
Knuckles helped Rouge into her seat and then sat across from her. "So, what do you think?" he asked.  
  
Rouge looked around and gave Knuckles a curious look. "This place looks awfully expensive. Are you sure you can afford it?"  
  
Knuckles nodded his head. "Trust me, I've had this all pre-arranged," he said, picking up a menu. "I'll be fine."  
  
Rouge also took her menu. One of the ritzy waiters came to their table. "Good evening," he said with a snooty voice, the kind that rich people have. "May I take your order?"  
  
"For starters, why don't we have some wine?" Rouge suggested. "How about that, Knuckles?"  
  
Knuckles looked up from his menu. "That sounds fine," he said. "And...um...I'll have, for an appetizer, some frozen shrimp."  
  
Rouge gave him and odd look and turned to the waiter. "I don't need an appetizer, I'll have the special of the day. Fried Calamari, correct?"  
  
"Of course, ma'am," the waiter said. He took their menus and walked off toward the kitchen.  
  
Rouge watched the waiter and then turned to Knuckles. "Frozen shrimp? Something's up with you," she said. "What's wrong?"  
  
Knuckles was nervously wringing his napkin in his hands. "Oh, me? Nothing, I'm perfectly fine."  
  
Rouge cocked and eyebrow. "Hmm, we'll see about that," she replied, smirking.  
  
The waiter arrived with the wine, frozen shrimp and Rouge's Fried Calamari. The food was delicious. Rouge watched, mentally laughing, as Knuckles' shrimp kept falling off of his fork. "You seem nervous," she said.  
  
Knuckles shoved a shrimp in his mouth before it fell off of his fork again. "Hmm? I'm not nervous at all, what gives you that idea?"  
  
"Well, for one thing, you keep shaking your fork, adjusting your tie, pulling on your collar to cool yourself off, and you're eating shrimp," Rouge replied.  
  
'I might as well do it now,' Knuckles thought. 'Do it before it kills me.' He set his fork down and reached for a small black box in his pocket. "Well, actually, I've been needing to ask you something."  
  
"Ask away," Rouge said, also setting her fork down and waiting for Knuckles to ask his question.  
  
Small droplets of sweat formed on Knuckles' forehead. He ignored them and pulled out the black box, carefully keeping it hidden from Rouge. "Well, I've been thinking about this for months now, and I think tonight is the perfect night to ask you."  
  
"Sure, why not?"  
  
'Here goes nothing.' "Rouge, I've known you for years now and---"  
  
Suddenly, a cell phone rang in Rouge's purse. "Sorry," Knuckles," she said. "I forgot to turn it off." She reached into her purse, only to discover that it was her black cell phone ringing, not her normal one. That meant trouble.  
  
She cast a nervous glance at Knuckles, who was waiting patiently for her to turn the phone off. "I'm afraid I have to take this call, Knuckles. It's coming from my bl...it's an important number," she corrected herself.  
  
Knuckles nodded. "I can wait." Rouge smiled and walked to one corner of the restaurant.  
  
***  
  
"This is Rouge," she said into her black phone.  
  
"Rouge? This is the President," came the reply. "I have a job for you. It's urgent."  
  
Rouge rolled here eyes and placed her hand on her hip. "Can't it wait?" she asked, impatiently. "I'm in the middle of a date with Knuckles."  
  
"No it can't wait!" the President shouted. "This is serious. The GUN headquarters have just been destroyed! We need you to work the case!"  
  
"Give it to someone else," Rouge said. "I'm in no mood to go spying on people again. It gets boring after awhile."  
  
There was no response from the President for about a minute. "Take the case or you're fired," he finally said.  
  
Rouge's eyes widened. "What? You can't do that, I won't stand---"  
  
"Then you're fired."  
  
"Ah, fine! But you'd better pay me triple what you normally do for interrupting my date," Rouge snarled before ending the call.  
  
***  
  
Knuckles was admiring the platinum ring set with a 1-carat diamond he had bought for Rouge. He looked up and saw her approaching and quickly socked the ring away into its box. "So, what's up?"  
  
Rouge sighed. "I'm afraid something's come up at work," she muttered. "It's urgent. I have to go."  
  
Knuckles' shoulders slumped. "Oh," he said, looking away. "I understand."  
  
Rouge gave him a small smile. "Hey, don't worry," she said. "As soon as I'm done, I'll come right back to you." She gave Knuckles a small kiss, picked up her purse and left.  
  
Knuckles watched her leave. As soon as she went through the door, he slammed his fists on the table. "Damn! All that work I spent on my proposal, and for nothing!" He stuffed the black box back into his pocket, left a hundred dollar bill on the table and stormed out of the restaurant.  
  
***  
  
"Dammit, Mr. President, you'd better have a good excuse for interrupting my date!" Rouge shouted as she entered the President's mansion. She had changed out of her dress and into in her normal black suit with the white gloves and boots.  
  
The President was waiting for her at the door. He walked with her down the hallway to the meeting room. "As a matter of fact, I have a very good excuse," he said. "Like I said, the GUN base has been destroyed."  
  
The two entered the meeting room and sat down at a large metal table surrounded by computers. "A satellite dish was stolen."  
  
"You mean the 'top secret' spy communications antenna which is sixty feet in diameter?" Rouge asked, sarcastically.  
  
The President rolled his eyes and pressed a button on his remote. One of the TVs turned on. A blurry image of a black helicopter appeared. "Yes, our sixty-foot dish. We managed to get this picture of the copter that destroyed the base. It's been identified as an Apache Attack-Copter, very rare and very expensive. High-tech, too."  
  
"So a helicopter came in and stole the dish, what do you want me to do about it?"  
  
"Will you shut up and listen!" Rouge stared at the President before sinking back into her seat. "Thank you! Now, this enemy has been labeled 'Highly Dangerous' for the fact that it was only a single helicopter that destroyed the base. The pilot was a skilled flyer and avoided the attacks from GUN guards."  
  
The President pushed the button again. A new image appeared. It was the helicopter flying away with the dish attached to a tether. "Luckily, we were able to trace the copter to its base."  
  
"Where's the base?" Rouge asked.  
  
The President shut the TV off and turned to face Rouge. He was smirking. "Apparently, this ties in with the mess you got yourself into two and a half years ago with Mr. Niagera Patterson Dredmond the Third. The base just happens to be his old factory in the middle of Station Square's industrial district. Now, as you know, Mr. Dredmond died in a plane crash. The coast guard retrieved the remnants of his jet off the coast of the city of Megalopolis. They were scorched practically beyond recognition."  
  
"I'm aware of that," Rouge replied, cringing at the sound of Niagera's name. "You think he's still alive?"  
  
"Of course not!" The President cried. "No one can survive a plane crash like that! Anyway, GUN wants you to investigate the factory and make sure everything's okay. You are our best agent, you know that, right?"  
  
Rouge beamed and nodded.  
  
The President smiled. "Excellent. Now, if you find anything, call us. If you need to defend yourself against anything, use your gun."  
  
Rouge put her hand up. "You don't need to explain, I know the drill," she said.  
  
***  
  
The industrial district of Station Square was not the friendliest place in the city. Lots of gangs, homeless people, and drug dealers were scattered around the district. Rouge pulled her Mini Cooper up to the N-Corp factory parking lot. The building was huge. Lots of dark, tall smokestacks protruded from the factory, which lay on twenty acres of property. This was the factory that built the N-Corp's mining machines. The once bustling, smoke-belching factory now stood lifeless and abandoned.  
  
Rouge exited her car and walked across the parking lot, which seemed to go on forever. Grass and weeds had found their way through lots of cracks in the blacktop. The yellow paint, which marked off parking spaces, had faded away a long time ago. There were no cars left. Suddenly, something caught Rouge's eye. She peered into the darkness to see a large, sparkling white Rolls-Royce limousine parked under a single lit up light right next to the factory's entrance.  
  
As she walked toward it, Rouge thought. Could Niagera still be alive? No, the President said that no one could ever survive a plane crash like that. Besides, she remembered reading in the paper that no bodies had been found in the plane. They burned up in the explosion. Plus, she remembered Niagera's limo to be black.  
  
But then again, who else could afford a Rolls-Royce? Obviously, someone was trying to frame the former billionaire.  
  
Rouge walked past the car, admiring her reflection on the car's large, gold- plated grille for a moment, and continued through the door. As soon as she stepped into the factory, everything went pitch black. Rouge got out her flashlight and shined it around the abandoned machinery. She began to walk deeper into the plant, looking out for any suspicious activity. She listened very carefully to see if she could here any voices, but there were none.  
  
The factory had been shut down for two and a half years, and it showed. Everywhere Rouge looked there was rusted machinery. Thick blankets of dust rested on top of everything, and the air smelled of mold.  
  
"Why in the world would anyone want to break into a place like this?" Rouge asked herself.  
  
Suddenly, she heard a sound. She quickly spun around to see what was behind her. Nothing, just more machinery. And dust. Nervous, Rouge aimed her flashlight at the machine, trying to see if someone was hiding in the darkness. No one was there.  
  
"This place is starting to creep me out," she said as she continued through the factory.  
  
She heard it again. It was the sound a robot would make when flexing its robotic hands; sort of a vibrating hum. Rouge spun around again, only to see nothing. "Hello?" she called. "Is...anyone here?"  
  
"Hello, Rouge," came a cold, steely voice from behind her.  
  
Rouge froze. 'I know that voice,' she thought. 'But where do I know it from?' Rouge slowly turned around to see a tall, slim figure, half covered in the shadows. She shined her flashlight on the figure and gasped. "N—Ni—Niagera?"  
  
The figure stepped into the full beam of the flashlight. He smiled. "Why, yes," he said. "Yes I am." Niagera P. Dredmond the Third took a few steps closer to Rouge, who backed up against a piece of machinery. She was clutching her gun behind her back, ready to pull it out of its holster. "Nice to see you again, Rouge."  
  
"No! You're dead, I read about your plane crashing," Rouge said. "Knuckles told me all about the crash." She started shaking her head. "You're an imposter."  
  
Niagera chuckled. "No, it's me all right. About that crash..." He held up his hands and rolled up his sleeves. Rouge stared at his mechanical forearms and hands. "I guess you could call me a cyborg now. I'm not a full robot, only my arms and one leg. I still have all my vital organs; heart, lungs, stomach." He flexed his fingers. They made the vibrating hum noise that Rouge had heard before.  
  
"Allow me to explain," Niagera continued. "The explosion caught me off guard. I was instantly engulfed in flames, hurt like hell, but I survived. Luckily, the plane landed in the water, dowsing the flames. But it left me without any arms and one paralyzed leg! James, my faithful robotic butler, helped me build robotic limbs to replace the ones I lost."  
  
"I knew you were behind this," Rouge snarled. "I have a strong trust with my instincts."  
  
Niagera pretended to be surprised. "Really, what gave me away? The helicopter? My factory? My Rolls-Royce? By the way, I had it repainted. Black just wasn't my thing."  
  
Rouge pulled the gun out of its holster and aimed it at Niagera, who put his hands up. "So, you've gotten me all figured out?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.  
  
"Yeah, I know all about the satellite dish and the GUN base," Rouge replied, putting some pressure on the trigger.  
  
Niagera sighed and shrugged. "Very well, I'll come clean. I won't hurt you, but before you kill me, let me show you something." He started walking down the isle of machinery, gesturing for Rouge to follow. She lowered her gun and followed, reaching for her phone. "Don't try calling for help," Niagera said. "The moment you stepped into this place, all communications waves were blocked by the layer of lead I had built into the walls."  
  
Rouge rolled her eyes. There was no getting anything past this guy. They continued walking until they came to a large, steel door. Niagera entered a code on a control pad and the door swung open. He gestured to Rouge. "After you," he said.  
  
Rouge kept her eye on Niagera as she went through the door, but was instantly taken aback by the sight she saw. They were on the balcony circling around the walls of a huge room. Dozens of robots were running around, connecting wires to various machines, welding metal beams together, and what not. Rouge looked down at the floor. There, in the center of the room, was the satellite dish, facing the ceiling.  
  
"You like it?" Niagera asked. "It's not finished. I still need the seven Chaos Emeralds as well as the Master Emerald to complete the array."  
  
Rouge gave him a curious glance. "You know about the Chaos Emeralds?"  
  
"Of course!" Niagera stepped closer to Rouge with a sinister smile on his face. "That's where you come in." He snapped his metallic fingers. Two large Guard-Bots suddenly grabbed Rouge's arms, holding her in the air so she couldn't escape. She struggled to get free, but it was no use.  
  
Niagera chuckled again. Rouge stopped kicking and glared at him. "You haven't changed, have you?"  
  
"No, I have changed," Niagera replied. "Incase you haven't noticed, I'm wearing a white suit instead of my usual black one." He continued to chuckle. Rouge hated it when he chuckled.  
  
"You expect me to find the Emeralds, don't you?" Rouge hissed.  
  
Niagera finally stopped chuckling. "No, I expect you to sit tight and look scared. Your boyfriend echidna is going to be doing all the work this time."  
  
Rouge's eyes widened. "No! You leave Knuckles out of this!"  
  
Niagera shook his head. "Stupid bat," he cackled. "This is the second time you've walked smack into one of my traps."  
  
To Be Continued.  
  
And you all thought Niagera was dead, didn't you? No, I bet you knew he was alive.  
  
All reviews accepted! 


	2. The Simple Demands

Disclaimer: See chapter #1.  
  
Chapter 2: The Simple Demands  
  
GUN commander Christopher Hammond stormed into the President's meeting room along with his assistant, Private Phillip. Inside the meeting room, the President was sitting at the large metal table talking to the Vice President. "Welcome, commander," the President greeted.  
  
Hammond stormed into the room and sat across from the President. Phillip sat across from the Vice President. "Mr. President," Hammond began. "Have you received anything from our agent?"  
  
"Nope. We've been sending messages to her phone, but she hasn't answered any yet," the President replied. "Should we send a search party?"  
  
Hammond shook his head. "No, Rouge should be fine. She's never gotten herself into a situation she couldn't get out of."  
  
The Vice President suddenly heard a message over his earpiece. He paused for a moment and listened. "Okay," he said. "I'll tell them."  
  
"What is it?" the President inquired.  
  
"We have an incoming message from an anonymous source," the Vice President replied. He pressed a button on his remote and the large screen on the wall lit up.  
  
An image of a duck wearing a white suit came into focus. "Mr. President," said the duck. "Do you recognize me?"  
  
The President thought for a moment. "I seem to remember someone who looked like you, but my memory's not—"  
  
"I'm Niagera Patterson Dredmond the Third," the duck interrupted.  
  
Everyone gasped. "Didn't you get killed in a plane crash two and half years ago?" Phillip asked.  
  
Niagera shook his head. "Almost. But that's not why I'm speaking to you. The thing is, you sent a GUN agent snooping about in my factory."  
  
"Rouge the bat," Hammond growled. He got up out of his chair and slammed his fists on the metal table. "What have you done to her?"  
  
"Sheesh, relax!" Niagera mumbled. "I haven't done anything to her...yet."  
  
"What do you mean, 'yet'?"  
  
"I mean I haven't done anything to her up to this moment but I will later on! Didn't you get through high school? Not even an idiot would ask me what I mean by 'yet'!" Niagera shouted.  
  
"No need to be rude, Mr. Dredmond," the President began. "Where is Rouge?"  
  
"Oh, she's with me, nice and safe," Niagera replied. "Opps. Did I say 'safe'? I meant she's tied to a chair with a bomb strapped to her."  
  
"WHAT?!" everyone cried.  
  
Niagera grinned and chuckled. "And I have the detonator right here." He held up a remote with a large red button on it. The camera zoomed out to reveal Rouge tied to a chair with a large bomb strapped to it. She was gagged and struggling to get free.  
  
"Fiend!" Phillip roared. "What do you want from us?"  
  
Niagera smiled. "My demands are simple. Get me the seven Chaos Emeralds as well as the Master Emerald before midnight tomorrow or Rouge goes 'boom'," he cackled.  
  
"The Chaos Emeralds?" the President said. "But, we don't know where they are. We don't even know where to look for them!"  
  
Niagera rolled his eyes. "Do I have to tell you everything? Look, I'll make this easy and tell you who can find the Emeralds."  
  
***  
  
Knuckles arrived back home to Angel Island. He took off his tuxedo and carefully stored it away. He took the black box out of the pocket and placed it right next to the Master Emerald on the shrine. Yawning, he laid down next to the Emerald himself and smiled at a picture of Rouge he had in a sterling sliver picture frame. "I wonder why she had to leave?" Knuckles muttered to himself. "Oh well. I'll ask her tomorrow if I see her." He yawned again, took one last look at the picture and dozed off.  
  
He had been asleep for about twenty minutes when a strong wind blew over him and knocked him against the shrine walls. He opened his eyes to see a helicopter hovering over him. "Holy hell!" he shouted, and took off running.  
  
The helicopter followed. "Knuckles the echidna, this is an urgent message from the President," a voice said over a megaphone. "Please stop running and come with us!"  
  
'Message from the President?' Knuckles thought. He stopped running and let the copter land next to him, almost blowing him into the bushes. A door on the side of the helicopter opened and Knuckles entered. Inside were several government officials, all dressed in black.  
  
"Hey, Knux." Knuckles turned to see Sonic the hedgehog, Amy Rose, Tails and Shadow sitting in a seat with confused looks on their faces. They gestured for him to sit with them.  
  
"What's going on here?" Knuckles demanded.  
  
"Calm down," one of the officials said. "Everything will be explained at the President's house."  
  
Knuckles seemed to accept the answer and sat next to Sonic. "What's really going on here?" he whispered.  
  
"We have no idea," Sonic replied. "This helicopter landed in front of my house and these officials broke in. They practically dragged us across the yard and into the copter."  
  
"You don't even want to know what they did to me," Shadow said, darkly.  
  
"Isn't this exciting?" Amy squealed. "We're finally on another adventure after two years of nothing!"  
  
"Don't get your hopes up," Tails mumbled. "Eggman probably stole another top secret weapon and the government wants us to get it back. Yawn."  
  
"Hey, at least it's something," Amy replied.  
  
"We're about to land," one of the officials said. "When we leave the copter, I will lead you to the President's meeting room."  
  
"Must they tell us everything?" Tails said, rolling his eyes.  
  
"Well, someone's in a bad mood," Shadow observed, smirking.  
  
The helicopter landed in front of the President's mansion. The group got out and followed the official to the meeting room, as instructed. The President and three other men were waiting in the meeting room. He gestured for the group to sit down at the large metal table. They did.  
  
"Sonic the hedgehog, Miles Prower, Amy Rose, Shadow and Knuckles the echidna?" the President asked. Everyone nodded. "Good, lets get down to business."  
  
Sonic raised his hand. "Um...why are we here?"  
  
"We have a crisis on our hands," the President said. "I'm afraid it involves Rouge the bat."  
  
"What's happened to her?" Knuckles demanded.  
  
The President thought for a moment. "Well, to begin, I need to tell you all this. Rouge is a secret agent that does spy work for GUN, one of our military agencies."  
  
Everyone was silent for a moment. Knuckles finally broke the silence. "Look, I'm pretty gullible, but you can't fool me like that."  
  
Hammond tossed Rouge's file onto the table in front of Knuckles. "Look at that," he instructed. "We're serious. Everything you need to know is in that file."  
  
Knuckles shuffled through the file. It contained documents such as Rouge's birth certificate, photographs, her resume, information about her missions and whatnot. He looked up from the file rather stunned. "You're serious, then?"  
  
Hammond and the President nodded.  
  
"Wow," Tails said. "Who would have thought that we would ever hang out with a government agent?"  
  
"She's not called a 'secret' agent for nothing, kid," Hammond mumbled.  
  
"We needed to tell you this in order to explain our dilemma," the President said. "Rouge has been captured."  
  
Everyone gasped. "Who did?" Knuckles growled, slamming his fists against the table.  
  
"Allow me to show you." The President pressed a button on his remote. The screen on the wall lit up and an image of Niagera Patterson Dredmond the Third came into focus. Everyone gasped again.  
  
"You!" Shadow exclaimed.  
  
Niagera grinned. "Hello there, Sonic, Amy, Mr. Prower, Shadow and...echidna," he said darkly. "Surprised to see me?"  
  
"This is impossible," said Tails. "You're dead."  
  
"Really? I feel very much alive, thank you," Niagera spat. "Now then, let's talk about the matter concerning your little friend, Rouge the bat, shall we?"  
  
"What do want from her?" Knuckles hissed.  
  
"I want absolutely nothing from her," Niagera said. "Just take one look and you'll see that she couldn't do anything for me anyway." The camera moved and revealed Rouge still tied up in a chair with a bomb strapped to her. She had given up the struggle to free herself. "Like what I've done?"  
  
Knuckles' blood started boiling. "If you lay a single feather on her, I'll—"  
  
"You'll what?" Niagera interrupted. "Remember, I have the detonator. I can kill her any time I wish."  
  
Sonic put his hand on Knuckles' shoulder. "Just sit down and let him tell us what he wants." Knuckles glared at him and sat back down, still fuming.  
  
"Are you finished? Can I talk now?" Niagera studied the group for a minute before continuing. "Okay now, I'll tell you my demands. They're really quite simple. All I want are the seven chaos emeralds and..."  
  
Before he could finish, the camera started shaking and fell to the floor, leaving a blurry and distorted image for the group to see on the TV. "James you idiot!" they heard Niagera yell. "I told you not to play with the tripod!"  
  
"Sorry," came James' robotic reply.  
  
Niagera picked the camera up and adjusted the lens. The distorted image became clear again. "Is it clear? Can you see me?" Niagera asked.  
  
Shadow had fallen on the floor in a fit of laughter. "This is the most pathetic attempt at being evil I've ever witnessed," he said.  
  
Niagera rolled his eyes. "So I'm pathetic, big deal! But let me ask you this: Which one of us has Rouge tied to a chair with a bomb strapped to her?" Shadow slowly stopped laughing and quietly sat down in his chair. Niagera grinned. "That's what I thought," he said.  
  
"Enough fooling around," Sonic said. "What do you want?"  
  
"Well, before I was so rudely interrupted, I said that all I want are the seven Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald," Niagera said, coolly. "Think you can do that?"  
  
"Too easy!" Sonic remarked.  
  
"Hmm, yes," Niagera mumbled. "But there's a catch, as always. You have to get all seven emeralds plus the Master Emerald to me by midnight tomorrow, that gives you—"He glanced at his watch. "Exactly twenty-three hours and fifty-nine minutes," he finished.  
  
"What? We'll never collect the emeralds by then!" Shadow cried.  
  
"Well then you'd better get cracking, or Rouge goes BOOM!" Niagera started laughing maniacally. "Remember, midnight tomorrow. Tootles!" Then the screen went black.  
  
Everyone stared at the screen for a minute. "That damn duck!" Knuckles roared. "When I get my hands on him...."  
  
They watched Knuckles strange the air for a moment before the President spoke. "Well, that's our crisis," he said. "Now you need to collect the emeralds."  
  
"That's it?" Amy asked. "You don't have any type of back up plan in case we can't find the emeralds, do you?"  
  
"While you're collecting the required gems, we're going to bring in the military," Hammond explained. "If we're able to get Niagera before he does something drastic, you won't even have to bother collecting the rest of the emeralds."  
  
"Collecting the emeralds will be easy," Sonic said. "They're all locked away in banks. We just have to go and retrieve them."  
  
Knuckles shook his head. "After the ARK incident, the emeralds were scattered all over the world. I only know where the Master Emerald and one of the Chaos Emeralds are. Finding the rest will be like finding a needle in a hay stack."  
  
Tails thought for a moment. "We could use the Master Emerald as a tracking device to find the other emeralds," he suggested.  
  
"We're going to have to split up to find some of the emeralds in time," Shadow said. "Mr. President, when do we begin?"  
  
"Immediately," the President replied.  
  
***  
  
Back in Niagera's factory...  
  
"That was pathetic!" Niagera roared. "They probably started howling with laughter after I turned off the camera!"  
  
"I'm sorry, Master Dredmond," James said. "The next time I'll try not to knock over the camera."  
  
Niagera rubbed his temples and slumped down into his big, velvet armchair, which was right next to a large, rusty machine. "No, it's not you. It's me. I'm just not evil enough. I look like freakin' Donald Duck for Heaven's sake!" he shouted.  
  
"I'm sure Miss Rouge thinks that you are very evil," James said. "Seeing as how she's tied up in a chair with a bomb strapped to her."  
  
Niagera looked over at Rouge, who was still in the chair propped up against some machinery. He smiled. "Oh, yes, I almost forgot." He snapped his metallic fingers. The metal bonds holding Rouge to the chair came loose. She spread her wings and charged at Niagera with full force. He remained sitting calmly in his chair. "You still don't get it, do you?"  
  
Seconds before she slammed into Niagera, he pulled out his 44-Magnum handgun and aimed it at her forehead. She instantly stopped charging. "You still have that?" she asked.  
  
"Yes, and you still have that bomb attached to your waist," Niagera replied. Rouge looked down to see the small bomb still attached to a belt around her waist and started picking at it. Niagera rolled his eyes. "You can't get it off," he said. "The only way to unlock the buckle is to blow it up. We wouldn't want that now, would we?" He held up the detonator.  
  
Rouge glared at him and backed up against a wall. "If you're so confident, why don't you just kill me right now?" she hissed.  
  
Niagera threw his hands up and got out of his chair. "Hey, who says I'm confident? For all I know, the electric chair could be just around the corner for me. But for now, I know I'm winning, so I think I'll celebrate." He pulled a hand-rolled cigar out of his pocket, stuck it in his mouth and lit it. Then he pulled out a bottle of wine from behind his back. "Do you know what the best thing about having mechanical hands is?"  
  
Rouge watched him curiously. "What?" she inquired.  
  
Niagera stuck the tip of his robotic finger into the wine bottle's cork and pulled it out. "You don't need to carry around bottle openers! Isn't that great?" He poured some wine into a glass. "Want some?" he asked.  
  
Rouge shook her head. Niagera shrugged. "More for me," he said, spitting the cigar out of his mouth and taking a sip of the wine. He glanced at Rouge as he sipped the drink. "I'm not going to lock you up, you're free to walk around my factory. Try and escape if you wish. But if you get any farther than my limo...BOOM!" he shouted, tossing the detonator up and down in his hand.  
  
Rouge smirked and started walking around the room, inspecting the old rusted machinery. "You know, the military will be here before you can do anything to me," she said, coolly.  
  
Niagera grinned, set his wine glass down and sat in his chair. "I'm fully aware of that," he cackled. "Don't worry, I have a big surprise waiting for them..."  
  
To Be Continued.  
  
Sorry it too so long to update, but I was caught up with schoolwork. Oh well.  
  
All reviews accepted! 


	3. The Besieging Military

Wow, it's been a while since I updated this story, mostly because I've been working on "Sonic on 'The Apprentice,'" as well as my first story for Fictionpress.net. I ran out of ideas for those, so I typed this up in the meantime.  
  
Disclaimer: See chapter #1.  
  
Chapter 3: The Besieging Military  
  
Knuckles, Sonic, Tails, Amy and Shadow stood around the Master Emerald on Angel Island. Knuckles set the blue Chaos Emerald down next to the Master Emerald. "We've got one," he said. "There are six more. In order to find them in time, we'll need to split up into groups."  
  
"I'll go with Sonic!" Amy exclaimed.  
  
Sonic's eyes widened. "Uh...actually...Tails was going to come with me, right Tails?"  
  
Tails arched an eyebrow. "No, I never said that—"He saw Sonic shaking his head and mouthing some words to him. "—Oh! Yes, I was going with Sonic. Sorry, Amy."  
  
Amy's shoulder slumped. "Shadow, I guess I'll go with you," she said.  
  
Now Shadow's eyes widened. "Wait! Knuckles, didn't you say you were going with Amy?"  
  
"Dear God no!" Knuckles shouted. Then he saw Amy's eyes fill with tears. "I mean...I'm going alone, I have to get the most difficult Emerald, and I don't want to put your life in danger, Amy."  
  
"So I'm stuck with her?!" Shadow roared. Amy glared at him and got out her Pico Pico hammer. "I mean—yay! I'm stuck with Amy! Hooray..."  
  
Amy seemed to accept the answer and walked over to Shadow. Sonic and Knuckles both sighed with relief. Shadow looked like he was about to kill them. "Anyway," Knuckles began, "Finding the Emeralds won't be easy, so Tails whipped up these gem-finding devices."  
  
Tails pulled two palm-pilot computers out of his knapsack and handed one to Sonic and Shadow. "These will locate the Emeralds with no trouble at all," he said.  
  
"What about you, Knuckles?" Sonic asked.  
  
"I'm going to use this blue Chaos Emerald to find the other two," he replied.  
  
"So, each group needs to find two Emeralds?" Amy asked.  
  
Knuckles nodded. "That's correct. We have to hurry, though. I have a feeling that the military won't be able to stop Niagera before midnight tomorrow. Remember, Rouge's life hangs in the balance."  
  
"He makes it sound serious," Shadow whispered to Tails, who chuckled.  
  
"I HEARD THAT!" Knuckles roared. "Rouge means a whole heck of a lot to me, so you'd better find those Emeralds, Shadow! Now, we only have twenty-two hours to before midnight tomorrow, so let's go!"  
  
***  
  
Niagera was sitting contently in his armchair, solving a huge book full of crossword puzzles with a solid-platinum Mont Blanc fountain pen in his hand. He paused for a moment to sip some of his red wine. Rouge was sitting Indian-style across from him, using a piece of rusted machinery as a backrest. "You're easily entertained, aren't you?" she asked.  
  
Niagera looked up from his crossword puzzle. "Well, when you're an evil person like me, you do a lot of waiting around. So, I brought this puzzle to pass the time," he replied. "Hmm, a three word phrase for 'stupidity,' let me think......I know!" He started writing the answer. "Rouge-the-bat! And it fits perfectly, too."  
  
Rouge ignored his insult and continued to tinker with the bomb strapped to her waist, hoping she could somehow remove it. "The military should be here any minute, I'm surprised you aren't panicking," she said.  
  
"Don't worry, I'll be able to handle them," Niagera replied. He set his puzzle down and picked himself out of the chair. "Just as soon as they get here—"  
  
Suddenly, an alarm went off and red lights started flashing. Niagera glanced at his watch. "Right on time," he said. "James, ready the copter, I've got some business to attend to."  
  
"Yes, sir," James replied, and hovered away. He came back less than a minute later. "The copter is ready, and the military is approaching from the southern entrance."  
  
"Excellent," Niagera hissed. He turned to Rouge. "While I'm gone, I don't want you causing any trouble, so here's what I'm gonna do." He grabbed Rouge's arm with his mechanical hand and fastened a set of handcuffs around her wrist. Rouge struggled to break free from his grasp, but she ended up shackled to the wall. "That ought to hold you."  
  
"I hope you know you're going to end up getting yourself killed," she growled.  
  
"Most un-indubitably," Niagera replied, "I have a few tricks up my sleeves, as always!"  
  
***  
  
Outside the factory, the military had gathered with a few tanks, Jeeps and those trucks that launched missiles. Commander Hammond stood on top of one of the tanks, holding a pair of binoculars to his eyes.  
  
"See anything, commander?" Philip asked.  
  
"The alarms have gone off," Hammond replied, watching the red lights flashing in the distance. "This should be easy enough. We get in, get Rouge, set the bombs and get out. If we have to, we'll blow the place up from the outside."  
  
"Should I give the order, sir?"  
  
Hammond put the binoculars down and jumped off of the tank. "Okay, send in the troops," he ordered.  
  
Philip lifted a megaphone to his mouth and shouted, "Attention! All troops fall in to infiltrate the factory!" Four special-operations spy troops gathered around Philip, who pointed in the direction of the factory's entrance. "You know the drill, get in there and get Rouge!"  
  
"Yes sir!" The troops said in unison, and started marching across the parking lot toward the factory.  
  
"This shouldn't take that long," Hammond mumbled.  
  
Suddenly, the sound of a helicopter engine filled the air. Everyone looked up to see the black Apache Attack-Copter hovering over them. Niagera was sitting in the pilot's seat. "Hello, all, I just thought I'd drop in for a visit," he cackled, and pressed a button on the control panel. A large, sliver sphere fell from a trap door under the copter and landed on the ground. A huge explosion swept across the convoy, destroying a few tanks and Jeeps. Niagera smiled. "That ought to hold them for a while."  
  
Suddenly, a dozen bullets ripped through the helicopter's body. Niagera quickly spun the copter around and aimed a missile at the machine gun. The missile fired and blew the machine gun, as well as the gunner, to smithereens.  
  
"All tanks fire at that damn duck!" Hammond roared over the sound of another explosion. All the remaining tanks, missiles and guns aimed for the copter and fired. Niagera struggled to avoid the oncoming hail of artillery.  
  
"I can see that this won't be as easy as I thought," he said, "James! Activate the smokestack!"  
  
"Yes, Master Dredmond," James replied. He reached over the pressed a large red button on the console. A warning light flashed. "Fire the missile?"  
  
Niagera just barely avoided another hail of bullets and missiles. "Yes! Fire it now!"  
  
James pushed the button again. One of the factory's smokestacks started to shake. "What the heck is going on?" Hammond demanded as he watched the stack glow bright red. Everyone stopped firing to see what was happening. Suddenly, a ball of fire shot out of the top of the stack. It flew up into the sky and started to descend right above the military.  
  
"It's a missile!" Philip shouted over the megaphone. "Everyone evacuate now!" The tanks turned around and started to retreat. Soldiers jumped onto the Jeeps as they scattered in all directions. Hammond and Philip jumped into a Jeep and headed for the factory.  
  
The huge missile came down like a nuclear warhead. It hit the ground and erupted in a ball of fire, wiping out the remaining artillery and sending huge chunks of shrapnel in all directions. When the smoke cleared a few minutes later, all that was left was a huge smoldering crater.  
  
Niagera hovered overhead in his helicopter, watching one of the Jeeps speed toward his factory. "Actually, James, that was rather easy," he said, "I knew I would win, whether I had to use the missile or not."  
  
I congratulate you on your victory, sir," James replied. "But there is still the matter of the troops who managed to infiltrate your factory."  
  
"Yes, well, I know how to deal with those," Niagera said, his beak twisting into a maniacal smirk.  
  
***  
  
The four spy troops that infiltrated the factory ignored the mayhem going on outside and continued to snoop around the rusted machinery in search of Rouge. "See anything?" one of them asked.  
  
"Nothing," another replied, "Just tons of rusted machinery."  
  
"This is useless," the first one mumbled. "We'll never find her at this rate."  
  
"Agent Rouge!" the third one called. His voice echoed throughout the factory. "Can you hear us?"  
  
There was no reply for a few minutes. Then, the four troops heard a feminine voice call from across the jungle of rusted machinery. "Hello? Is anyone there?"  
  
"It's Rouge," the forth troop said.  
  
"Where are you?" the first one called.  
  
Again, there was no response for a minute. Finally, Rouge answered. "If you can here me, I'm in sector A-3!" she called.  
  
One of the troops checked a map of the factory. "Okay, men, it's all the way on the other side of the complex. Let's move!"  
  
***  
  
Rouge picked at the handcuffs shackling her to the machine with a rusty nail she had found on the floor. "This is just great...and embarrassing," she muttered. "I can't wait until they find me like this."  
  
"Hello?" came the voice of one of the troops.  
  
"Finally! It took you long enough," Rouge called. She watched as the four troops appeared from behind an old conveyor belt, rifles raised to get rid of any attackers.  
  
"Looks like you got yourself into quite a jam," said the troop.  
  
Rouge recognized that voice. "Is that you, Topaz?" she inquired, arching and eyebrow.  
  
The troop chuckled. "Yes, Rouge, it's me," she said, "Topaz." (A/N: This isn't a Sonic X fic, but I decided to put Topaz in here anyway.)  
  
Rouge rolled her eyes. "Just get me out of here." Topaz raised her rifle and aimed at the handcuffs.  
  
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," came a voice from behind the group. Everyone turned to see Niagera standing there, holding his 44-Magnum handgun. Topaz and the troops aimed their guns back at him.  
  
"Put your hands in the air, duck," Topaz ordered, "You're through."  
  
Niagera shrugged. "Okay, you got me," he said, and dropped his gun. "But I still advise you not to shoot that machine."  
  
"Don't listen to him, Topaz; he's a liar," Rouge said.  
  
Topaz nodded and turned back to Rouge. "Okay, stand still," she instructed. And aimed the rifle at the handcuffs.  
  
"Don't say I didn't warn you!" Niagera shouted. One of the troops elbowed him with his gun.  
  
Topaz fired at the handcuffs. The bullet broke through the chain, freeing Rouge. It also pierced the machine. Suddenly, a thick jet of steam started spraying from the machine. It was so powerful that it knocked Rouge and Topaz over. The troops struggled to find them in the thick steam cloud. Niagera saw his chance and picked up his gun. He shot the three troops in the back. They collapsed and were quickly covered by a cloud of steam. The steam was so hot that Rouge and Topaz passed out due to heat stroke.  
  
***  
  
When Rouge regained consciousness, she and Topaz were locked in a jail cell built into the side of one of the machines. Niagera was standing in front of the cell door, smiling. "See, Rouge? I told you I hade a few tricks up my sleeve," he hissed. "The military has been defeated by little old me!"  
  
Rouge slammed her fists against the cell door. "You're not getting away with this," she growled, "When Knuckles gets here with the Emeralds, he's gonna kill you!"  
  
"I'm sure he will," Niagera replied, "Of course, that's only if he gets here on time. Have you forgotten about the bomb that's still strapped to your waist?"  
  
Rouge looked down to see the bomb that was, in fact, still strapped to her waist. She'd forgotten about it yet again. "Remember, I don't have to wait for him to arrive. I can detonate it any time I wish," Niagera continued, "And when he gets here and sees you dead—or rather, blown all over the factory—I'll get to see the horrified expression on his face!"  
  
"You're a monster," Rouge mumbled.  
  
Niagera rolled his eyes. "Call me what you want, but remember, I'm winning the was as of now."  
  
"No you're not!" came a voice from behind him.  
  
Niagera rubbed his forehead. "Now what?" he said in aggravation. He spun around to see Hammond and Philip standing there, rifles aimed at him. "Gee, more military personnel. It must be my lucky day!"  
  
"We've come to put an end to your plans," Philip growled.  
  
Niagera simply sat down in his armchair and sipped some more of his wine. "Tell me something I don't know," he mumbled.  
  
"You've got a lot of nerve," Hammond shouted. "Are you gonna fight us like a man or are you just gonna sit there."  
  
Niagera glanced at them and shouted, "James! Anytime you're ready!"  
  
"Yes, sir," came James' reply. Hammond and Philip looked up to see a steel cage being held over them by a crane. James was operating the crane. He pulled a lever and the cage came down on top of the two men, trapping them inside.  
  
"How's that for an answer?" Niagera asked, smirking. He said no more and went back to solving his crossword puzzles.  
  
"Looks like we've lost this round, sir," Philip observed. "Better inform the President."  
  
Hammond nodded and pulled out a cell phone. The President's number was set on speed-dial. "Hello, Mr. President?" He waited for a reply.  
  
"Yes?" The President finally answered.  
  
"We lost this round. Niagera's got us in cages while he's solving crossword puzzles. Look's like it's up to those treasure hunters," Hammond explained.  
  
The President was silent for a minute. "Okay, I'll radio the hunters," he said at last.  
  
***  
  
Knuckles looked at the blue Chaos Emerald. It still showed no sign of picking up energy from the other Emeralds. He sighed. Hopefully, the military would take care of Niagera. He and the others would never be able to find the Emeralds and get them to Niagera before midnight tomorrow.  
  
The little communication device, given to him by the President, started buzzing. Knuckles activated it. "Hello? This is Knuckles," he said.  
  
"Knuckles, this is the President," was the reply. "I'm afraid I have some bad news."  
  
Knuckles already knew the answer. "The military failed, didn't they?" he said.  
  
"Erm...yes, they did, I'm sorry to say. Unfortunately, you and the others are going to have to find the Chaos Emeralds before midnight tomorrow," the President replied.  
  
Knuckles shrugged. "Okay, Knuckles out," he said, and deactivated the communicator.  
  
This was terrible. He and the rest had to find the six remaining Chaos Emeralds in less than twenty hours. But he was going to do it, nonetheless. He was going to stop at nothing to save Rouge.  
  
To Be Continued.  
  
Well, this chapter wasn't as long as I thought it was going to be. Oh well. Once again, sorry for taking so long to update. I let this story get bumped back all the way to page sixteen on the fanfiction menu.  
  
All reviews accepted! 


	4. Quest For The Chaos Emeralds

The next part of this story is based around the two teams and Knuckles finding the six remaining Chaos Emeralds. Originally, I wanted to make it one big chapter. But then I decided to divide it into two chapters. It's less stress on my fingers and the reader's eyes.  
  
Disclaimer: See chapter #1.  
  
Chapter 4: Quest for the Chaos Emeralds  
  
Shadow fumbled with the gem-finding computer that Tails had given him. "I hate computers," he grumbled. Thus far, the computer had led them to the middle of Station Square. And then it just crapped out.  
  
"Let me try," said Amy, taking the computer from Shadow, who crossed his arms over his chest.  
  
"Humph! I'd like to see you figure it out," he mumbled.  
  
"Done!"  
  
"Wha...?"  
  
"It was easy, all I had to do was enter the name of the gem we're looking for into the memory bank," Amy began, "Then I re-routed the encryption coding to the proper section of the virtual hard drive to get a signal on the Emerald's whereabouts!"  
  
Shadow just stared at her. "And you did all that in seven seconds?"  
  
Amy nodded proudly.  
  
Shadow took the computer from her. "Okay...according to this, the Emerald isn't too far from here. If we can prevent it from crapping out again, we might be able to get the Emerald in less than an hour."  
  
Amy checked her watch. "Nineteen hours to midnight, we'd better get cracking!"  
  
***  
  
The computer was wrong...VERY wrong. The Emerald was situated about four miles from the outskirts of the city, somewhere in the middle of the canyon. Shadow gasped for air as he climbed across the sides of the steep canyon walls. Amy, on the other hand, was having the time of her life jumping from perilous rock edge to perilous rock edge.  
  
"Amy! Don't kill yourself, please! Sonic will never forgive me!" Shadow called.  
  
Amy was already three levels below Shadow. She looked up to see him struggling to climb down. "Come on, Shadow," she called. "Go ahead and jump! I'll catch you!"  
  
"Yeah, yeah, don't make me laugh," Shadow mumbled.  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"Uh...I need to take a bath!" Shadow called.  
  
"Oh, okay!" Amy was getting impatient. "Please jump? At this rate we'll never find the Emerald before midnight!"  
  
Shadow thought about it. If he climbed, he would be safe. But then again, it would also take a lot longer. If he jumped, Amy would catch him and most likely drop him. But what did he care? He was the ultimate life form! "Okay, I'm gonna jump!" he called. He jumped...and landed flat on his face. "Dammit! Amy, why didn't you catch me?" he demanded.  
  
Amy was standing fifty feet to his right. "From down here it looked like you were going to land over here," she said. "I'm sorry."  
  
Shadow muttered something and brushed himself off. He took the computer out and studied their surroundings. "Look at this place. If this is a canyon, then where' the river?"  
  
"It must've dried up," Amy suggested.  
  
"Hmm, so it seems." Shadow activated the computer. It immediately started beeping and flashing yellow. "Well, the Emerald's around here somewhere. According to this, we have to head along the bottom of the canyon floor until we come to a cave."  
  
***  
  
The canyon floor was not easy to navigate. It was filled with potholes and sharp rocks. Wind whipped up sand and dust that lay on the floor into the two hedgehog's faces. Three times, Shadow had walked into a large rock while staring down at the computer. He finally lost his patience the forth time.  
  
"Dammit!" he roared, "What's wrong with me? I'm bumping into everything!"  
  
"You should watch where you're going," Amy advised.  
  
Shadow glared at her. "If I look ahead, how will I know where the computer is telling us to go?"  
  
"We'll just keep walking until the computer starts beeping. Then we know the Emerald's close."  
  
Shadow rolled his eyes. "As you wish, Amy," he mumbled. No sooner had he said that then the computer started beeping and flashing red. "Finally! It's close, so keep an eye out for something shiny."  
  
Amy started digging around the rocks. "Hey, I think I found it," she said. Shadow ran over to her. Amy picked a large red Emerald out of the hole she had dug. "This is it! That's one down, one more to go before we report back to Angel Island!"  
  
"Excellent," Shadow said. "Now I'll set the computer to the next Emerald." He started to fumble with the computer, which crapped out...again. "NOT AGAIN!"  
  
Amy shook her head. "Give it to me, Shadow," she said, and took the computer from him. "It's the same problem as it was last time. We're gonna have to do this whenever we change coordinates."  
  
"Yeah, well, fix it!" Shadow fumed. He stormed over to a flat rock and sat on it. "Stupid computer...crazy duck sending us out on this 'adventure'...Amy thinking she's so smart...and—OW!" Shadow jumped up off the rock. Something had stung him. He looked down to see a scorpion with its stinger raised. Shadow exploded.  
  
"AHHH! Stupid scorpion! Stupid adventure! Stupid Emerald! STUPID EVERYTHING!" he roared, running back and forth and kicking up sand and dirt.  
  
Amy rolled her eyes. "Come on, Shadow. Don't yell so loud, you'll start a rockslide!"  
  
Shadow stopped kicking the rocks and stared at her. "Rockslide? Great! Go ahead and add to my troubles!" he shouted.  
  
Suddenly, the sound of rocks grinding on one another filled the air. Shadow and Amy looked above to see thousands of boulders tumbling down the sides of the canyon toward them. "I told you!" Amy cried. "Come on, we have to get out of here!"  
  
The two hedgehogs took off running. The rocks were closing in. "We have to find a cave," Shadow called over the roar of the rocks.  
  
Amy spotted a small opening the canyon wall. "Look, over there!" She pointed to the cave. Shadow nodded in response and they both headed for it.  
  
The rocks tumbled down the canyon walls and landed on the ground, causing it to shake. Shadow and Amy narrowly missed being hit by a few huge boulders. The opening was right in front of them. Shadow jumped and hurled himself through the entrance, avoiding another boulder. Amy continued to run.  
  
Suddenly, a huge rock fell down upon the cave's entrance, shattering and throwing small shrapnel all over the place. Amy tripped over the rock and got covered in dirt and dust. Luckily, the rockslide ended at that point.  
  
"Amy!" Shadow called. He ran over to the pile of rocks and started digging. He found Amy buried under a pile of dirt. "Are you okay?"  
  
Amy smiled weakly. "Yeah, but I think my leg is stuck," she said, trying to free her leg from under a small rock.  
  
"Don't worry, I'll get you out," Shadow assured. He took Amy's hands and started pulling. He pulled a little too hard, and a minute later, she came free, and both hedgehogs went flying across the cave.  
  
Shadow landed on his back and Amy landed on top of him. When the dust cleared, they both saw what position they were in. Shadow's eyes widened. "Ack! Amy! Get off!" he shouted.  
  
Amy quickly climbed off of him and giggled. "Well, that was something new to me," she said.  
  
Shadow gave her an odd look and tried to hide a deep blush coming to his cheeks. "Anyway...as soon as we can get these rocks cleared away, we have to start looking for the next Emerald," he said, "We only have sixteen hours left."  
  
***  
  
Sonic and Tails had had some good luck finding their Emerald. The computer led them to a museum. Obviously, the Chaos Emerald was being used as an attraction. Unfortunately, the sun had come up and the museum opened to the public.  
  
"How are we gonna get that Emerald in broad daylight while people are watching us?" Tails asked. He and Sonic were sitting on a bench across the street from the museum.  
  
Sonic thought for a moment. "Well duh," he said, "My speed! I'll just run in there, grab the Emerald, and run out before anyone can see me!"  
  
"And what if you run into a wall?" Tails mumbled. "You'll be going so fast you won't be able to see where you're going."  
  
Sonic's shoulders slumped. "Fine, scratch that. Do you have any ideas, oh smart one?"  
  
Tails beamed. "As a matter of fact, I do."  
  
"Oh really? What is it?" Sonic asked. Tails leaned over and whispered it into his ear. Sonic smiled. "That's so crazy, it might just work!"  
  
***  
  
The museum doorman watched in disbelief as a tall man dressed in a tan overcoat and a large, drooping hat wobbled along the sidewalk toward the museum's entrance. The man approached the doorman and tipped his hat. "Morning, sir," the man said in a strange voice, as though he had a cold.  
  
The doorman arched an eyebrow. "Uh, hello, sir. May I help you?"  
  
The tall man wobbled a bit more. "I'd just like to look at that new attraction in this museum," he said.  
  
"Ah, you must mean the green Emerald," the doorman replied, "Yes, the entrance is right over there." He pointed to the museum's revolving doors.  
  
The tall man tipped his hat again. "Thank you," he said, and wobbled to the entrance. Instead of walking through the door, he walked into the wall. "Ow!"  
  
"Uh, do you need help?" the doorman inquired.  
  
"Nope! No thanks, I'm just heading for the entrance to the right." The man walked into the wall again. "Ahem, the entrance to the RIGHT!" He finally walked through the entrance.  
  
Once inside, Sonic poked his head out of the coat. "You know, I thought this was a good idea until you put me on the bottom!"  
  
"SHHH!" Tails hissed. "Get in there and take me to the exhibit!"  
  
"I don't know where it is!"  
  
Tails rolled his eyes. "Okay, I'll guide you there. Hopefully you know your left from your right."  
  
"Just shut up and guide me!"  
  
Tails sighed. "Okay, the exhibit is in the historical jewelry wing. Just keep walking ahead." Sonic started walking. Tails struggled to keep the large coat from falling off. Sonic's wobbling wasn't helping, either.  
  
As they walked, people stared at them. "Don't mind us," Tails said in his deeper voice, "I'm just trying to get to the jewelry wing, which is to my LEFT!"  
  
Sonic took a step to the right and knocked into a potted palm tree. Tails rolled his eyes. "This is going to take awhile," he mumbled.  
  
***  
  
An hour later, Sonic had managed to get to the exhibit, after knocking into two walls, an old lady, another potted palm tree, a priceless mobile, and a suit of armor. Finally, the green Chaos Emerald lay on a felt pillow in a glass display case before them. Several people were standing around taking pictures of the gem. Others were listening to the tour guide.  
  
Sonic poked his head out of the coat. "Okay, there it is. How do we get it?"  
  
"Easy," Tails said. "Just head us over to that guy over there." He pointed to one of the museum curators. Sonic wobbled over to him.  
  
The curator gave them an odd look. "Can I help you with something?" he asked.  
  
"Uh, we're interested...I'M interested, only me, in buying that Emerald," Tails stammered, "I understand there is an auction for it?"  
  
"Correct," said the curator. "Our highest bid so far came yesterday: three million dollars."  
  
Tails thought for a moment. He hadn't expected the Emerald to be so much money. "Gee, I'm a very rich man," he lied.  
  
"Really? Are you from around here?"  
  
"Urgh...yes," Tails mumbled.  
  
"What's your name? I have a keen recollection of millionaires, maybe I've heard of you." The curator was getting a bit too curious.  
  
Tails quickly thought of a name. "My name is...John...man...guy...person...John Manguyperson!"  
  
The curator arched an eyebrow. "No, I don't believe I've heard of you," he said. "But I'll put you down for a bid anyway." The curator wrote down Tails' name on his auction sheet. "Wait a minute, you're the winner!"  
  
'Perfect,' Tails thought.  
  
"Congratulations, Mr. John Manguyperson," the curator continued, "I'll get your prize."  
  
Sonic poked his head out and watched as the curator opened up the glass display case and carefully picked up the green Emerald. "Okay, Tails, when the man gives it to you, I'll get us out of here!"  
  
Tails looked down at him. "Shh! Okay, I'll take the Emerald," he said.  
  
The curator handed Tails the green Emerald. Several people took some pictures of the jewel as Tails took it. "Will you be paying in cash, check or with credit?" the curator asked.  
  
"We won't be paying!" Sonic said, jumping out of the coat. Tails fell and Sonic caught him. "Come on, Tails, let's go!"  
  
Everyone gasped as Sonic sped out of the exhibit room with Tails close behind him. "Stop him! John Manguyperson is stealing the Emerald!" the curator roared.  
  
Sonic and Tails were already near the front doors when two security guards jumped in front of them. "Just where do you think you're going?" one of them asked.  
  
Sonic tried to run, but a third guard blocked him. Tails, though, was able to slip between his legs and run to the door. "Sonic, throw me the Emerald!" he called.  
  
Sonic hurled the Emerald into the air, above the two guards, over Tails' head, through the front doors, and into the street. Tails rolled his eyes. "Great work," he muttered.  
  
The guards, distracted by the flying Emerald, didn't see Sonic run past them. "Sayonara, fatsos," he called, sticking his tongue out. He scooped up Tails and the Emerald and dashed all the way to Station Square Central Park.  
  
Tails flopped down onto the cool grass. "That was a close one," he panted.  
  
Sonic wiped some sweat off of his forehead. "Yeah, but at least we got the Emerald," he said. "We have to hurry and find the other one, we've only got nine hours to go!"  
  
***  
  
"It figures that I have to go up against Eggman," Knuckles growled as he snuck around the walls of Eggman's 'secret' base, which was right in the middle of the forest. He watched as several security cameras pivoted on their supports, watching for intruders. "Either I'm the luckiest guy on earth or Eggman's not watching the TV."  
  
Knuckles finally found the spot where he and Sonic had broken into the base many times before: a small, round hatch that was left unguarded. It was used as a trash chute. Knuckles aimed a powerful punch at the hatch and knocked it off of its hinges. Dozens of banana peels, rotten apples, other rotted foods and garbage bags of all sizes suddenly came down the chute, covering Knuckles.  
  
"This is just great," Knuckles hissed as he dusted himself off and began the long climb up through the chute.  
  
***  
  
Eggman laughed evilly for no reason as he dusted off the two Chaos Emeralds held in his safe. "With these Emeralds, I shall be able to power my greatest invention," he cackled, "The Eggsterminator II! And with it, I will destroy the world!"  
  
Metal Sonic leaned against the wall and rolled his cybernetic eyes as he watched Eggman. "You know, I just noticed this," he droned, "You're an idiot."  
  
Eggman stopped laughing and spun around. "You be quiet, you bucket of bolts! Remember, I saved you from the clutches of Sonic and rebuilt you from scratch!*"  
  
(* You'll read about this in a Sonic fic I haven't published yet.)  
  
"Eggsterminator II? Sonic already destroyed the Eggsterminator I, and that used all seven Chaos Emeralds," Metal droned, "How do you think it'll defeat him and take over the world with only two Emeralds?"  
  
Eggman shrugged. "You know, you're really good at destroying one's self- esteem," he said. Suddenly, an alarm went off. "Uh-oh, looks like we have an intruder! A perfect opportunity to test the Eggsterminator II!"  
  
"As you wish, but I still say it won't succeed with only two Emeralds," Metal insisted.  
  
***  
  
Knuckles, still covered in some trash, stood in the middle of the control center, almost panicking as the alarms flashed around him. "Okay, I gotta find it, but where would Eggman keep an Emerald?" he wondered.  
  
"Hello, Knucklehead," came a voice from behind him. Knuckles turned to see Dr. Eggman hovering in his chair thing. "Nice of you to drop in!"  
  
Knuckles raised his fists. "Skip the small talk, Egghead, and tell me where the Chaos Emerald is!"  
  
"Sorry, no-can-do," Eggman cackled. "If you want the Emeralds, you'll have to defeat my newest invention, Eggsterminator II!"  
  
Suddenly, the whole room started to shake, and the floor opened up. A huge, tank-like machine emerged from the hole. It roared to life and several laser guns folded out of it. Knuckles sighed. "This is just not my day."  
  
The machine fired its lasers at Knuckles, who jumped up into the air and did a somersault onto the top of the machine. He was about to punch a hole through the armor when it started racing around the room. Knuckles struggled to hold on, but he ended up being thrown off. He landed on the floor with a sickening THUD. The machine turned around and headed for him. Knuckles extended his arms and caught the underside of the machine, as it passed by. He tore a hole through the armor and climbed into it.  
  
Eggman fumed as he watched his machine wheel helplessly around the room, with Knuckle now at the controls. "How could this happen? The Eggsterminator II is my strongest creation!"  
  
Metal Sonic appeared next to him. "One: You're only using two Chaos Emeralds, and Two: That's not the Eggsterminator II."  
  
Eggman's eyes widened. "Then what is it?!"  
  
"It's your prototype faulty tank," Metal mumbled.  
  
The tank wheeled around and headed for Metal Sonic and Eggman. "Take this!" Knuckles shouted. He steered the machine into Eggman's hovering chair, tearing it to bits. Metal Sonic activated his booster jets and harmlessly floated above the fray.  
  
Eggman crawled away from his demolished hover chair. Knuckles spun the tank around and aimed for him. "Wait! I give up! I'll give you the Emeralds!" Eggman pleaded.  
  
Knuckles rolled his eyes and climbed out of the machine. He walked over to Eggman, who was cowering on the floor. "Where are they?" he demanded.  
  
"They're in this little safe," Eggman said, and pulled out the metal box that held the two Emeralds. Knuckles grabbed the box and opened the lid. Inside were the purple and yellow Emeralds.  
  
Knuckles nodded and closed the box. "Okay, Eggman, I'll let you go this time because I'm in the middle of the emergency. But next time, you won't be so lucky," he snarled, and headed for the exit.  
  
Metal Sonic hovered back down to the ground and marched over to Eggman. "You just give him the Emeralds like that?!" he shouted. "You're an idiot!"  
  
***  
  
Niagera watched as Knuckles fought Eggman on the big-screen TV in his factory. "Oooh, this is getting interesting," he squawked, "First there's a rockslide, then Sonic and Tails become Station Square's most wanted, and now Knuckles is acting like Chuck Norris!"  
  
"Quite entertaining, sir," James replied.  
  
Rouge, Topaz, Hammond and Philip were now locked in the same cell, all of them watching Niagera. "What? Do you have cameras all over the world?" Topaz asked.  
  
"Yeah, shoosh!" Niagera growled. "Here comes the best part...Wait, he has TWO Emeralds? Dammit!" He slammed his mechanical fists against the armrests of his chair.  
  
"What's the matter?" Rouge taunted, "Angry that Knuckles is winning?"  
  
Niagera shot her a death glare and turned the TV off. "Nope, in fact, I have a feeling that you'll be sprawled all over this factory before they find the last Emerald," he hissed. "Remember, Rouge, I have lots of tricks up my sleeve."  
  
He bent down and pulled out a blue felt-covered box from under the chair and opened the lid. Inside was the white Chaos Emerald. "I'd like to see those idiots find this one before midnight!" he cackled. "Without this one, they won't be able to enter my factory, thereby giving me a good excuse to kill you all!"  
  
Everyone stared at the white Emerald. "Now we're doomed," Rouge said weakly.  
  
Niagera picked the Emerald out of the box and studied it. "Don't worry, Rouge, there's still four hours to midnight. Maybe your boyfriend will find a way to get in without this Emerald."  
  
To Be Continued.  
  
Gee, that Niagera sure is sneaky, isn't he? Hiding the last Emerald from the good guys to keep them from winning, for shame! Anyway, I need help. I have no idea what the real colors for the Chaos Emeralds are, so could any of you tell me in a review? Thanks.  
  
All reviews accepted! 


	5. In The Factory

Well, I've changed my mind about the 'Quest for the Chaos Emeralds' part of the story again. I don't want to bother explaining what I changed about it, so just read the chapter to figure it out.  
  
Disclaimer: See chapter #1.  
  
Chapter 5: In The Factory  
  
Knuckles approached the Master Emerald and set his two Chaos Emeralds down beside it. "The others should be here any minute now," he said, "They'd better, we only have four hours to go."  
  
***  
  
Amy and Shadow sat down on a bench near Station Square Central Park. "This has been the most ridiculous day of my life!" Shadow fumed, "First, we're sent off on this crazy adventure, then the computer craps out, then we have to walk all the way to the canyon, then we almost get killed by a rockslide, then we arrive back in the city with only six hours to go and an old lady knocks me senseless with her purse!" He rubbed a bump on his forehead.  
  
"Look on the bright side," Amy said, "At least we got the two Emeralds we were supposed to." Then she closed her eyes half way and leaned toward Shadow. "And, we got to spend a little romantic moment together."  
  
Shadow stared at her, wide-eyed. "Amy, there is nothing romantic about the fact that you landed on top of me when I pulled you from that rockslide!" he insisted.  
  
Amy drew back in defense. "Well, you know what I think?"  
  
"No, what?" Shadow asked, rolling his eyes.  
  
"I think you like me. You're just afraid to show it," Amy replied.  
  
Shadow jumped off of the bench and into the air. "WHAT!? Okay, end of conversation! Let's just get these Emeralds to Knuckles, we've only got three and a half hours left."  
  
***  
  
A frustrated Tails searched the gem-finding computer's database for a readout on the location of the next Emerald. "This is odd," he said, "I can't get a readout on the next Emerald's location."  
  
Sonic, who had been gazing at their green Emerald, looked up. "What do you mean? We've only got two hours to go and you can't find the next Emerald?"  
  
"Calm down," Tails mumbled, "I'm sure this is just a malfunction of the hard drive. I should be able to de bug it in a few seconds." He pressed a button and the computer sparked and exploded. Tails and Sonic stared at it.  
  
"Well, scratch that," Sonic sighed.  
  
"Now how are we gonna find the last Emerald?!" Tails demanded.  
  
"We're gonna have to find an alternative Emerald," Sonic said, "Do you still have that fake Emerald in your workshop?"  
  
Tails' face lit up. "I'm way ahead of you!"  
  
***  
  
Knuckles glanced at the digital watch the President had given him. "Two hours. Where are they?" Suddenly, he heard voices coming from behind him. He turned to see Amy and Shadow walking toward the shrine with two Chaos Emeralds. Knuckles smiled. "Excellent," he said, and then added, "Have you seen Sonic or Tails anywhere?"  
  
Amy set the Emeralds down next to the Master Emerald. "No, we haven't."  
  
Shadow slumped down onto the Shrine next to Knuckles. "I see you had a good time," the echidna taunted. Shadow just glared at him.  
  
"Hey guys!" Sonic called. He and Tails ran up to the group and placed their single Emerald down next to the other five.  
  
"Uh...where's the other Emerald?" Amy asked.  
  
Sonic and Tails glanced nervously at each other. "Um, we only found one," Tails piped.  
  
"What?!" Knuckles roared. "We only have two hours to go, and we only have six Emeralds! Now how are we going to save Rouge?"  
  
"Easy, Knux," Sonic said, "We had an idea. Tails, if you will?"  
  
Tails pulled the fake Emerald out from behind his back. "This is my fake Emerald that I made for the ARK incident," he explained, "As I've said before, it has the same wavelength properties as the real one. Niagera won't be able to tell the difference between this one and the real white Emerald."  
  
Knuckles took the Emerald from Tails. "It's worth a shot," he said, "I'll try anything possible to save Rouge." He studied the Emerald for a moment before turning to the group. "Okay, we've got two hours to get these Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald to Niagera's factory. The building is a long way from here, so let's get moving!"  
  
***  
  
"How long now?" Topaz asked.  
  
Hammond glanced at his watch. "Forty-five minutes to midnight," he replied.  
  
"Really?" Niagera's annoying, high-pitched voice pierced everyone's thoughts. "According to my watch, there's an hour to midnight. But thanks for letting me know the real time," he hissed, "I'll reset my watch."  
  
Everyone glared at Hammond. "Sorry! You asked me what time it was and I told you," he grumbled.  
  
Rouge was curled up in the corner of the cell. "It's all over for us," she mumbled, "They won't get here on time. Niagera will blow me up and the rest of you, too."  
  
"Relax, Rouge!" Niagera shouted. "You've still got a whole forty-five minutes to live! I suggest you go make them worthwhile. Ever had a glass of wine from 1895?"  
  
"Shut up!" Topaz, Hammond and Philip said in unison.  
  
Niagera took a few steps back. "Sheesh, I was just offering her a glass of wine before she and the rest of you die!" He lifted the crystal glass to his beak and took a small sip of the red wine. "Ah, now that's good drinking."  
  
"Someone's having a good time," Topaz growled.  
  
Rouge ignored her and tried to stifle some oncoming tears. "Knuckles, where are you?"  
  
***  
  
Knuckles was right outside the factory. He and the rest had gathered with the Emeralds and were getting ready to infiltrate the huge plant. "Okay," he began, "This will be easy; we go in, give him the Emeralds, get Rouge, and get out."  
  
"That's what the military said," Sonic mumbled. Tails and Shadow chuckled.  
  
"Shut it!" Knuckles growled. "Come on, we have more than enough time. Let's go."  
  
He and the rest started walking, Knuckles carrying two Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald, which he had been able to shrink down to a 'convenient travel-size.' "You're sure that that fake Emerald will fool him, Tails?" Amy asked.  
  
"I'm positive," Tails replied.  
  
***  
  
"Here they come," Niagera cackled, "And they have...SEVEN Chaos Emeralds? How...? Hmm...Oh, Mr. Prower, you're too smart for your own good. Unfortunately, I'm smarter!"  
  
He watched the group as they approached the door of the factory. "These security cameras are quite convenient, let me tell you," Niagera mumbled. "Now, let's see if they can get in with that fake Emerald!"  
  
***  
  
"Aw, crap!" Shadow grumbled as he and the rest approached a large steel door. "It's a dead end!"  
  
Amy tapped the door. "It feels pretty solid," she said.  
  
"No problemo!" Sonic said, "I'll have this door down in a sonic second!" He curled himself into a ball and did a homing attack at the door. The end result was Sonic's body crushed against the solid steel. "Okay, that didn't work..."  
  
"Let me try." Knuckles set his Emeralds down and aimed a powerful punch at the door. He slammed his fist into the solid steel. Nothing happened. "OW!!!" Knuckles shook his fist to ease some of the pain.  
  
Shadow crossed his arms over his chest. "Like I said: Dead End."  
  
"Hey, what's happening?" Tails pointed to a small flat TV screen folding out of the door.  
  
The TV turned itself on and showed an image of Niagera sitting in his armchair. "If you're viewing this, then congratulations! You've collected all seven Chaos Emeralds as well as the Master Emerald with enough time to save Rouge!" Suddenly, the door started vibrating. Seven small slots in the door opened up. "Now, if you'll just set each Emerald into its appropriate slot, you may enter."  
  
Everyone set the Emerald they were holding into the slots. Tails hesitated to put the fake Emerald in, though. "Actually, I'm not sure if it will work or not," he mumbled.  
  
Everyone glared at him. "NOW you tell us?" Shadow roared. "Just put it in!"  
  
"Okay..." Tails set the fake Emerald into place.  
  
For a few seconds, the computers in the door registered the Emeralds. "Excellent," the image of Niagera went on to say. Suddenly, the Emeralds were sucked into the door and disappeared. "Don't worry, they're on their way to me. Of course, there is still the matter of the Master Emerald. You have to hand deliver it to me personally!" The image faded and the TV folded back into the door, which opened up and let the group enter the factory.  
  
The interior was dark and musty, rusted machinery was everywhere and breathing was difficult because of all the dust. Sonic peered through the darkness. "Now we find Niagera, give him the Emerald and save Rouge. It shouldn't be that hard. After all, we still got twenty minutes left."  
  
***  
  
Niagera sipped his wine as he watched the group on his view screen. "That's what you think, hedgehog," he murmured.  
  
"What are you up to?" Topaz demanded.  
  
Niagera spun around and grinned. "Think about it, did you really think I was going to make it this easy for those idiots to find me? Heck no! I'm going to get them separated and lost, that way I have a good excuse to kill you all when the time runs out!" he hissed.  
  
Suddenly, a small round hole in the floor opened. A large console with a glass top came up through it. Under the glass were the seven Chaos Emeralds. "I do admire Mr. Prower's skills at making fake Emeralds," Niagera said, "But I still need the Master Emerald."  
  
He approached the console and pressed a large red button. (A/N: Why is it always a red button? Why can't it be a blue button for once?) The machinery in the factory suddenly hummed to life. "Now, let's see if those pests can make it through my factory alive!"  
  
***  
  
"This place is quiet," Tails observed, narrowing his eyes, "Too quiet."  
  
Suddenly, the blinding light pierced the darkness and the hum of machinery filled the air. "This factory's still operational?" Shadow asked.  
  
Niagera's voice was suddenly heard over a loudspeaker. "Hello, echidna and friends, as you may have noticed, I've started up my factory in hopes that you won't get the Master Emerald to me in time. But you shouldn't be worried, after all, you are Knuckles the echidna, one and only. I'll see you in twenty minutes!" he said. Maniacal laughter followed.  
  
"Everyone follow me," Knuckles shouted over the roar of the machinery, "I'll find Niagera, the rest of you just stick close!"  
  
"What is we get separated?" Amy called.  
  
"You won't if you stick with me!" Knuckles replied.  
  
Amy rolled her eyes as she followed the group through the maze of roaring machinery. "How come I never get to be the leader? It's always—hey!"  
  
Amy was suddenly picked off of the ground. She looked up to see the mechanical hand of a crane lifting her into the air. "Sonic, HELP!" she called.  
  
Everyone looked up to see Amy being held in the air by the crane. "What the heck?" Sonic exclaimed. "Don't worry, we'll get you down just as soon as—whoa!" He fell through the floor.  
  
"A trap door," Shadow mumbled, "What a surprise."  
  
Tails started spinning his two tails like a helicopter. He rose into the air. "I'm coming, Amy," he called. He flew higher and higher until he was at Amy's level. "I'm going to try and pry this mechanical hand off of you."  
  
"Hurry!" Amy squealed. Tails grabbed the hand. The moment he did, another hand came and wrapped around his arm. "Great..."  
  
The crane started following its track along the ceiling and brought Tails and Amy to a smelting machine. Unfortunately for them, it was operational along with the rest of the factory and was stamping and molding drill bits. The crane dropped the two animals onto a conveyor belt that was heading for the drill mold as it opened and closed, allowing molten metal to be poured inside and hardened into drill bits for mining.  
  
"Amy, jump off the belt!" Tails called.  
  
Amy tried to jump, be she couldn't. "Tails, I'm stuck!" she shouted. Tails looked down to see that his feet were also secured to the conveyor belt by two clamps.  
  
Shadow and Knuckles watched as Tails and Amy struggled to free themselves from the conveyor belt. "Shadow, go save them, I have to get the Master Emerald to Niagera," Knuckles ordered.  
  
Shadow arched and eyebrow. "What about Sonic?"  
  
"He can take care of himself. Now save them!" And with that, Knuckles ran off toward Niagera's chamber.  
  
Shadow shrugged. "Why me?" he mumbled, and then called, "Don't worry, I'm coming!"  
  
***  
  
Sonic was sliding through a tunnel of some sort. He had been sliding for a few minutes before he finally came to the exit. He slid out of the tunnel and fell onto the ground. "Ow," he mumbled as he rubbed his sore behind. "Where am I?"  
  
He looked around and saw that he was in a storage room piled high with steel containers that housed drill bits and other mining tools. The lighting was a bit dim, but it was enough for Sonic to find a path through the jungle of containers.  
  
Suddenly, he heard a noise. He spun around and peered through the dim lighting. "Anyone there?" he called, "Shadow? Knux?"  
  
A pair of red eyes pierced the darkness. Then another pair appeared next to it. Then another, and another. The lighting brightened, and Sonic saw that he was surrounded by no less than a dozen Guard-Bots. They raised their arms, which instantly transformed into lasers.  
  
Sonic smirked. "These guys again, eh? Okay, bring it on!"  
  
The Guards fired their lasers at Sonic, who easily dodged them. You're gonna need to be faster than that to hit me!" He curled into a ball and did a homing attack, tearing through three robots. They sparked and exploded. The other robots turned and looked at the smoldering remains of the three.  
  
Sonic took advantage of the time and tore through another robot, which sparked and exploded. "This is too easy," he said.  
  
Suddenly, a door opened in the corner of the room. A dozen more Guard-Bots marched in with their lasers aimed at the blue hedgehog. They fired the lasers. The red beams shot everywhere, tearing through the steel containers that held the drill bits. One of them melted, exposing about thirty bits, neatly stacked on top of each other. Sonic had an idea.  
  
He stopped running and faced the robots. "Hey, slowpokes, think you can catch me?"  
  
The robots ignored his question and kept firing. "Okay," Sonic mumbled, "But you're gonna regret it!" He dodged the red lasers, some of them coming too close for comfort. He jumped onto the mountain of steel containers. The robots kept firing; their lasers kept blowing holes in the containers, exposing more drill bits.  
  
Sonic finally came to the container under the stack of drill bits. He faced the robots. "Hey, I'm up here!" he called. The robots looked up and sew the blue speedster. They fired again. Sonic dodged the lasers just in time for the red beams to pierce the container behind him. The huge steel box melted, and the heavy drill bits toppled over. They rolled down the tower of steel boxes and crushed the Guard-Bots.  
  
Sonic then did homing attacks on more of the steel containers. More bits rolled down and crushed more oncoming robots. A minute or so later, the dust had cleared and Sonic saw the huge pile of destroyed robots on the floor. He whistled. "This was too easy. Time to fins my way outta here," he said.  
  
***  
  
"Shadow, HELP!" Amy and Tails cried as they neared the smelting machine.  
  
Shadow ran along the conveyor belt until he reached them. "Take my hand," he ordered, and reached for Tails and Amy. They reached back.  
  
"It's too far," Tails said, "Climb on and unbuckle these clamps!"  
  
Shadow struggled to climb onto the moving conveyor belt. When he did, he reached for the clamps that held Amy to the belt. Suddenly, he felt two more clamps secure him to the belt as well. "This is just great, now I'm stuck!" he growled.  
  
"How're we going to get off?" Amy cried. "I'm too young to die!"  
  
Shadow tried to pry the clamps apart, but they were too strong. "I can't get them off," he said. Then he tried to grab the side of the conveyor belt. "Maybe if I jam the belt, it'll stop moving!"  
  
He reached down with his gloved hands, grabbed the belt and tugged on it. The results were two torn gloves and badly bruised hands. "Damn..."  
  
Amy suddenly had an idea. "Shadow, do you still have your hover shoes?" she asked.  
  
Shadow nodded.  
  
"Turn them on," she ordered. Shadow gave her a curious glance and activated his shoes. The flames from the thrusters started to heat the clamps. They soon turned white hot.  
  
"Brilliant!" Tails exclaimed. "They'll get so hot that the clamps will just melt!"  
  
"Easy for you to say," Shadow said through clenched teeth as he tried to withstand the heat.  
  
Amy looked ahead to see the smelting machine very close. "Quick, Shadow, see if you can free yourself!"  
  
Shadow tugged at the clamps. They had become so hot that they softened and melted. He was free! "Hey, I'm free," he said. He looked and saw that the smelting machine was dead ahead. "Okay, new plan, I'll burn the conveyor belt and pull us off!"  
  
"Are you sure that will work?" Tails asked.  
  
Shadow didn't respond. He aimed the flames from his hover shoe at the rubber conveyor belt. The belt quickly caught flame and started to melt. "You two start to tug at the clamps," Shadow ordered.  
  
Amy and Tails started tugging at their clamps while Shadow continued to melt the belt (Hey, that rhymes). The rubber started to become softer and softer until it turned to a liquid. Amy and Tails gave one last tug and the melted belt literally slid off of the moving platform. They landed on the floor, less than a foot away from the scorching smelting machine.  
  
The rest of the belt started to jam the machine, which started to hiss and groan. Steam spouted from the smelter and the mold ground to a halt. "That was interesting," Shadow panted between breaths. "Okay, time to find Niagera."  
  
***  
  
Niagera rubbed his mechanical hands together in delight. "There's only ten minutes left, and still no one's come to your rescue, Rouge," he hissed.  
  
Everyone looked back at Rouge, who was still sitting in the corner of the cell. "Oh, Knuckles will be here, alright," she growled, "Even if he comes one second before midnight."  
  
"Think what you want," Niagera replied, "But I have a pretty good feeling that he won't be showing up at all, neither will Shadow, Amy, Mr. Prower or Sonic!"  
  
"Take that back!" came a voice from behind Niagera.  
  
He spun around to see Sonic standing there, smirking. "What was that about me not showing up?"  
  
Niagera stood there and stared. "But...how did...? What happened?"  
  
"Your Guard-Bots are worse than Eggman's cronies," Sonic said, "And that's really saying something. Now, are you gonna let Rouge and the rest go, or do I have to do it myself?"  
  
"Correction, Sonic my boy, you are going to be joining Rouge and the rest in their cozy little cell," Niagera said, "James, get him!"  
  
Before Sonic could react, he felt two mechanical arms grab him and lift him into the air. "James? Let me go!" He kicked his feet and squirmed to free himself from the mechanical butler's grasp, but it was no use.  
  
"Don't worry, Master Sonic," James reassured, "This will all be over at midnight, and then you're free to go." He hovered over to the cell. The door opened automatically and James tossed Sonic in with the rest. The door closed before anyone could try to escape.  
  
"Sonic, I have to say that was the most pathetic escape attempt you've ever made," Rouge mumbled.  
  
Sonic ignored her and banged his fists against the cell bars. "You won't get away with this!" he shouted. "When Knuckles and Shadow and Amy and Tails arrive, you're toast!"  
  
"I highly doubt that," Niagera replied, "After all, they've only got—"He glanced at his watch—"Five minutes left!"  
  
Suddenly, everyone heard a sound coming from above them. Niagera looked up to see the air duct above the cell shaking. Voices could be heard rattling around inside of it. He pulled out his 44-Magnum handgun and shot at the duct. The bullet hit the hinge of a vent, which swung open. Shadow, Amy and Tails fell from the vent and landed on the floor.  
  
"Amy, try not to suggest travel via the air ducts again," Shadow grumbled, dusting himself off.  
  
"So good of you to join us, Shadow," Niagera said, "And you too, Amy. Mr. Prower, I must compliment you on your creation of the 'fake' Emerald. I'm surprised my computer system couldn't detect the difference, but that's another story."  
  
Shadow jumped up and prepared to fight. "Okay, duck, let them go!" he ordered.  
  
Niagera rolled his eyes. "James..."  
  
Once again, James snatched the three animals and tossed them into the cell. "There's three more pathetic escape attempts," Topaz murmured.  
  
"Okay, you've got all of us and the seven Chaos Emeralds, plus a fake one," Hammond said, "Now let us go!"  
  
"Wrong! I'm still missing something—two things actually, Knuckles and the Master Emerald," Niagera cackled, "And I've got the perfect plan to keep him from getting to me!"  
  
***  
  
Knuckles was running through the jungle of humming machinery. "I've got five minutes left!" he cried, "I'm never gonna get this stupid Emerald to Niagera!"  
  
The moment he said that, he turned a corner...and saw Niagera and the group straight ahead. What luck! Knuckles grinned, filled with a new confidence, and started running toward the group.  
  
Niagera saw him coming. "No, no, Knuckles," he said, "I'm afraid we can't have that."  
  
He snapped his metallic fingers and a laver extended from the floor. Niagera pulled it and dozens of walls shot up from the floor. They rotated and folded until the formed a maze. "Like it, echidna? I built it myself!" Niagera called to Knuckles.  
  
Knuckles panicked and started running through the maze. He turned a corner...dead end. He backed up and ran in the opposite direction. He turned another corner and came to a fork. He took the right and ran into another wall.  
  
"Three minutes!" Niagera called. Everyone in the cell started to shout and cheer for Knuckles.  
  
"Come on, Knux! You can do it!" Sonic called.  
  
Knuckles ran around another corner; yet another dead-end. He started to inhale and exhale heavily as he continued to run, the Master Emerald safely tucked under his arm.  
  
"Two minutes!"  
  
Suddenly, Knuckles had an idea. He raised his fist and punched a hole through the wall. It shattered like ice. The echidna smiled and jumped over the rubble of the wall and aimed another punch at the one in front of him.  
  
Niagera followed the sweeping second hand on his Rolex wristwatch. "One minute!" he said, pulled out the detonator and pressed the single red button on it. (A/N: See? Another red button!) A loud buzzer sounded on the bomb still attached to Rouge's waist and a yellow light started to flash.  
  
"Come on, Knuckles!" Rouge cried, "Hurry up! The bomb is armed!"  
  
Knuckles started to panic. This was taking too long. He punched another wall, which collapsed, and started running again.  
  
"Thirty...twenty-nine..."  
  
Everyone in the cell backed away from Rouge.  
  
Knuckles ran into another fork. "Come on, think! Which one?" he panted.  
  
"Fifteen...fourteen...thirteen..."  
  
Knuckles took the path on the right...which led to a dead end. Wide-eyed and sweating heavily, he ran back and took the path on the left.  
  
"Five..."  
  
He saw the exit, a large hole in one of the walls.  
  
"Four..."  
  
He ran toward the hole as fast as he could.  
  
"Three..."  
  
"I'm coming!" Knuckles shouted.  
  
"Two..."  
  
Knuckles lunged himself at the hole.  
  
"One!"  
  
To Be Continued.  
  
AHHH! What's gonna happen? Will Knuckles get there on time or will Niagera blow everyone to smithereens!? I bet you can't wait to find out! I bet you also hate me for making this clever cliffhanger...hehehe...  
  
All reviews accepted! 


	6. The Revenge

I knew you people hated me for making that clever cliffhanger...hehehe...well, here's exciting conclusion to that clever cliffhanger...hehehe...  
  
Disclaimer: See chapter #1  
  
Chapter 6: The Revenge  
  
"One!"  
  
Niagera brought his metal finger down upon the detonating button. The electrodes in the detonator had barely made contact when Knuckles hurled himself through the hole in the maze wall and onto the floor right in front of Niagera.  
  
Niagera smiled. "Excellent," he hissed. He took his finger off of the button and put the device back into his pocket. The loud buzzer and flashing light on the bomb stopped. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
Knuckles gasped for breath and got up off the floor. He picked up the Master Emerald and handed it to Niagera. "Here," he said, "Now let them go."  
  
Niagera took the Emerald, which transformed back to its original size. "Hmm, this is fascinating," he muttered, "James, will you please put this over by the console?"  
  
James nodded and picked the heavy Emerald up. Niagera sat back down in his armchair.  
  
"Let them go," Knuckles repeated.  
  
Niagera pretended to think. "No, I don't think I will." He grinned and snapped his fingers. Knuckles felt two large Guard-Bots grab his arms and hoist him into the air. He struggled to get away.  
  
"Don't try to escape, Knuckles," Niagera said, "I can blow your girlfriend to bits anytime I wish!"  
  
Knuckles glared at him and stopped struggling. "We had a deal! I gave you the Emeralds, why won't you let them go?" he growled.  
  
Niagera chuckled and got up out of his chair. "I can't believe you, Knucklehead! Did you actually think I was going to let them go just like that? Have you forgotten what you did to me two and a half years ago?"  
  
"Yeah, I remember. I defeated you!"  
  
Niagera cringed. He hated hearing those words in the same sentence. "Yes, you did, you also did this." He held up his hands. "See? When you blew up my thirty million dollar jet—which, might I add, is another reason I'm doing this—my arms and one leg were paralyzed in the explosion! I had to replace them with cybernetic limbs! Now, I don't mind the leg, it comes in handy sometimes, but these arms! They're terrible! Every time I touch something I scratch it! That's why I never take off my watch, I'm afraid I'll scratch it."  
  
"I'm surprised you still wear a watch, seeing as it was your precious limited edition Rolex that gave me the opportunity to defeat you," Knuckles said coolly.  
  
"I would never be seen in public without my watch!" Niagera roared. "I need to look fancy. I'm a billionaire if you haven't noticed, so I only wear the finest watches and suits, drive the finest cars, eat the finest foods and drink the finest wines."  
  
"He drank wine the whole time he waited for you, Knuckles," Philip mumbled.  
  
Niagera shot him a death glare. "Shut up, I'm having a spat with the echidna!"  
  
"You really drank wine the whole time?" Knuckles asked, "You're going to have the hangover from hell tomorrow." He laughed a bit.  
  
Niagera cringed again. "For your information, wine has no effect on me. I can drink a hundred glasses and I wouldn't even get the hiccups!" He paused and thought for a moment. "Except beer and eggnog, they can do some real damage to me..."  
  
Knuckles continued to get Niagera off the topic of revenge. "And I like your suit. It matches your feathers," he said.  
  
Niagera arched and eyebrow and smiled. "Why, thank you. It's custom tailored from Armani."  
  
"But there's something missing," Knuckles replied. He hacked up a bunch of saliva and spat in Niagera's face. The result was mass laughter from everybody...except Niagera. "There, now it's complete!"  
  
Niagera wiped the spit off his beak, completely infuriated. "I know what you're doing! You're trying to change the subject! But it's not working, so let's get back on track, shall we?" He pulled out his gun and aimed it at Knuckles' forehead. He instantly calmed down.  
  
"Good," Niagera continued. "But the real reason I want revenge is because you ruined my one chance to take over the world." His voice became a low hiss. "Remember Hell's Jewel? Yes, I'm sure you do."  
  
"What are you getting at?" Knuckles growled.  
  
Niagera put his gun away and sat back down in his chair. "You see, after the whole incident at my mansion, I formulated a plan for revenge. I'm a very vengeful person, if you haven't noticed. So I thought of something simple, kidnap Rouge. Easy and effective, don't you think? Anyway, the plan soon evolved into the whole shebang with the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald. I added the part about getting them to me before midnight just for kicks. You even brought the last Emerald one second before midnight for dramatic effect!" He chuckled to himself.  
  
Knuckles puzzled over this for a few minutes. "So you have the Emeralds. What do you need them for?"  
  
"Do you really want to know?" Niagera asked, a sly smirk finding its way to his beak.  
  
"Yes!"  
  
"Okay, but I think you're going to regret it." Niagera got up out of the chair and clapped his mechanical hands twice. For a minute, nothing happened. Suddenly, the floor started shaking.  
  
"What's going on!?" Amy cried as she and the rest of the prisoners bounced around in their cell.  
  
The machinery started to rattle. Two huge machines suddenly started to move aside on a track built into the floor, revealing a wall. The wall also started to move apart. It revealed a room with a balcony around the wall. On the floor rested a huge satellite dish facing the ceiling. The ceiling started to roll back, revealing a star-studded sky.  
  
Everyone gaped at the huge dish. "What is that thing?" Sonic asked.  
  
"It's the dish that was stolen from the GUN base!" Hammond exclaimed.  
  
In a few minutes, the rattling and shaking stopped. Niagera continued his speech. "Behold, my N-Ray! Yes, it's a lousy name, but I don't care," he said, and cleared his throat. "This is the device I'm going to use to take over the world in a few minutes. It's an incredibly powerful laser beam that can lock onto and disintegrate a single atom from a distance of five hundred miles. Quite a little marvel, don't you think, Mr. Prower?"  
  
Tails just glared at him.  
  
Niagera rolled his eyes. "Anyway, it uses an incredibly high-powered magnetic field to create a very weak laser beam. To generate enough electricity to power that field, I needed to cannibalize the little rocket boosters in the boot of my Rolls-Royce limo. You might remember those, Sonic?"  
  
Sonic just glared at him.  
  
Niagera shrugged. "Why is everyone glaring at me? Sheesh... Anyway, in order to magnify these thin beams produced by the magnetic field, I needed a certain substance not found in nature. When I did some research, I found out that the things I needed to magnify the beam were the Chaos Emeralds. So, I expanded my plan to include them, and here we are waiting for me to take over the world." He smiled and rubbed his hands together.  
  
"How do you know the beam will work?" Knuckles asked, "What if the Emeralds deflect the laser?"  
  
Niagera smirked. "I'm glad you asked that. I haven't tested the ray yet, so I've decided to test it on you right now!"  
  
Everyone gasped. "No!" Rouge cried, "Don't hurt him!"  
  
"You're next, bat-girl, so I suggest you keep your yap shut!" Niagera growled. He turned back to Knuckles. "Robots, take this echidna up to the satellite dish, please."  
  
The Guard-Bots nodded. They hovered into the air and flew over the satellite dish, holding Knuckles over the center array. "He is in position, Master Dredmond," one of the robots said.  
  
"Excellent," Niagera hissed. "Now, set the Emeralds into place!"  
  
Another Guard-Bot picked up the seven Chaos Emeralds and hovered over to the dish. It placed each Emerald in its appropriate slot, forming a ring around the edge of the dish. Then it placed the Master Emerald in the center array. "The Emeralds are in place," it droned.  
  
"Excellent," Niagera hissed again. "James, start the generator. I'd like to test this laser as soon as possible!"  
  
"Yes, sir," James said. He hovered over to an electrical box on the side of the dish and pulled a lever. The electrical wires started humming. Yellow lights started blinking, indicating that the unit was charging.  
  
The prisoners watched in horror. "I can't believe he's actually going to do this," Shadow gasped.  
  
"Come on, Knuckles! Do something!" Sonic called.  
  
Knuckles looked down at his friends. "There's nothing I can do," he said, sadly.  
  
The yellow lights turned blue. "Sir, the unit is charged and ready to be fired," James reported.  
  
Niagera sat behind the ray's control console. "This is all going according to plan," he said. "James, I'd like Rouge to get an up close view of her echidna-friend's death. Do you think that would be possible?"  
  
"Quite possible, sir." James hovered over to the cell and opened the door. Before anyone could react, he grabbed Rouge and locked the cell once again. "Master Dredmond requests that you watch your echidna-friend's death."  
  
Rouge kicked the robot and tried to evade its grasp. She beat her wings, which slammed against James' metal body. "Please, Miss Rouge, I suggest you obey Master Dredmond, he has the upper hand as of now," James insisted.  
  
Rouge stopped kicking and glared at Niagera. "What do you want?" she growled.  
  
"I want you to observe Knuckles' death," Niagera replied, "I also want you to evaluate the performance of my laser."  
  
"You're a monster," Rouge hissed.  
  
"Be that as is may, I have the upper hand. So I suggest you be a good girl and watch quiet quietly." Niagera looked back up at Knuckles, who was still being held over the center array by the robots. "Okay, Knuckles, here comes the laser!"  
  
He pulled the lever on the control panel. The whole array roared to life. From the center of the dish, a thin laser beam fanned out in seven directions. Each beam hit a Chaos Emerald and was magnified hundreds of times. The Emeralds acted as mirrors and shot the seven magnified rays toward the Master Emerald. The rays were absorbed by the Emerald and magnified even more. It started to glow white hot, and the superstructure under it started to warp and bend.  
  
Everyone watched, speechless. "So, it's come to this," Tails said.  
  
"There's nothing we can do," Sonic mumbled, "He's won."  
  
Rouge gaped at the beam enclosed in the glowing Master Emerald. "Are you watching, Rouge?" Niagera called, "Here comes the best part!" He looked up at Knuckles. "Any last words, echidna?"  
  
Knuckles looked down at the satellite dish, then over at Rouge, who was cowering in the corner, staring up at him. "Rouge," he called, "I love you."  
  
"I love you too," Rouge sniffled.  
  
Knuckles looked back over at Niagera. "Gimme your worst, you bastard!" he cried.  
  
Niagera reached for the lever again. "That I will, echidna, that I will," he said, and pulled the lever.  
  
The array roared once again and the now huge, white-hot laser erupted from the Master Emerald. It headed for Knuckles. The echidna closed his eyes and clenched his teeth, waiting for the split second of excruciating pain. But it never came. The beam slammed into Knuckles' body. The beam surrounded his body and formed a glowing ball of energy. The ball expanded and exploded. Knuckles was vaporized so quickly, he didn't have time to feel the pain. The energy from the explosion shook the factory and lit up the sky with a blinding white light. The remaining beam pushed the remaining energy up into the atmosphere, where it exploded again. The laser was shut off, and all was quiet.  
  
Everyone stared at the space previously occupied by Knuckles. He was gone. He was dead.  
  
"KNUCKLES!" Rouge cried. She broke down into uncontrollable sobs and slammed her fists against the ground. "No...he's gone..."  
  
The prisoners stood there, stunned. "I don't believe it," Sonic gasped, "He's dead!"  
  
"You bastard!" Hammond slammed his fists against the cell door. "How could you do such a thing?! When we get out of here, we're going to tear you limb from limb!"  
  
Niagera ignored the threats and cries and stared up at the sky. "I...I did it..." he mumbled. His beak twisted into a ridiculous smile. "I won! I actually won! Did you hear that, James? I WON!" He jumped up from behind the console and started doing a victory dance. "Yeah, I'm the man! I won! Ahahahaha! And you are the LOSERS!" He pointed to his prisoners.  
  
"He's gone..." Rouge whispered, "I'm never going to see him again." She shut here eyes tight and thought about her sadness. Niagera killed Knuckles. He actually killed Knuckles. The thought made her break down into tears again. But then something else sparked in her mind. She was angry. VERY angry. She balled her hands into fists and clenched her teeth.  
  
Niagera stopped doing his ridiculous dance and approached Rouge. "I hope you enjoyed my laser's performance," he said, "Now, I've thought about what I'm going to do to you. I thought your wings might make an excellent hood ornament for my Rolls-Royce!" He pulled a knife out of his pocket and removed the leather cover.  
  
Rouge looked up at Niagera as he approached her. The anger was fiery now, and she needed to put it out. In one quick move, she let out a piercing scream and hurled herself at Niagera. He was caught off guard by her sudden outburst and dropped the knife as she slammed into him. "You killed Knuckles!" she roared as she repeatedly punched the defenseless duck in the face.  
  
Niagera grabbed her arms and threw her off of him. "So, you want to play rough, eh?" He pulled out his gun and aimed it at her.  
  
Before he could fire, Rouge spun around and kicked the gun out of his hand. It slid across the floor to the other side of the room. Niagera stared at it. "Uh...easy now, Rouge, you wouldn't want to hurt the world's richest man, would you?" he said nervously.  
  
Rouge slammed her fist into Niagera's beak, cracking a piece of it off. "You killed Knuckles, I'm never going to forgive you!" she cried, and aimed another punch at Niagera's stomach. The punch made contact, and Niagera keeled over.  
  
Clutching his bleeding beak with one hand and trying to regain his balance with the other, Niagera stumbled backward and hit his head on the satellite array. "Look, he's dead, you have to get over it sooner or later!" he insisted. He narrowly avoided another punch, but was smacked right in the jaw by another kick. This was not going well at all.  
  
"Man, look at her go," Topaz mumbled, "Where did she learn to fight like that?"  
  
"She's had a lot of practice against Knuckles," Tails replied.  
  
"Go Rouge! Kick his ass!" Shadow called.  
  
Niagera wobbled on his one mechanical leg as Rouge kicked the other one. "There's no way you can bring him back! Unless of course, you find a way to travel through time," Niagera hissed, "But that's very unlikely...OW!"  
  
Rouge head butted him and he finally lost his balance. Niagera fell down and slid across the highly polished floor...right next to his knife. Very weak now, he reached for it and hid it in his pocket.  
  
Time travel? Rouge froze. It was possible. That fool Niagera had all seven tools needed for time travel right in his factory...the seven Chaos Emeralds! But they could only stop time, not travel into the past. Unless, of course...  
  
"You're wrong, Niagera," Rouge said, "There is a way to save Knuckles. It's called Chaos Control!" She spun around and headed for the satellite dish. Niagera stared at her.  
  
"Chaos Control? I don't know what that is, but if it can defeat me, I'm not letting you use it!" He hurled himself off the ground and ran after Rouge, who was already climbing up onto the dish.  
  
She looked back and saw Niagera holding the knife in the air. Panicked, she spread her wings and flew up onto the dish and grabbed the nearest Emerald. But for this type of Chaos Control to work, she would need two Emeralds.  
  
Before she could grab the second Emerald, Niagera jumped in front of her and pushed her back. She fell down and dropped her Emerald, which rolled to the other side of the dish. "And now," Niagera began, "I will rid myself of you!" He raised his knife and brought it down. Rouge rolled out of the way before Niagera drove the knife into the metal dish with his mechanical arm.  
  
Rouge picked herself up and ran toward her Emerald. Niagera pulled the knife out of the dish and headed for her. She picked up her Emerald and ran across the dish again to get the next one she needed. She had almost grabbed it when she felt a hand grab her boot. Rouge lost her balance, her hand inches away from the yellow Emerald.  
  
Niagera slammed his foot down on her wing, holding her in position. "No more games," he growled, "This ends now!" He raised the knife and aimed for Rouge's neck. Rouge tried to reach for the Emerald, but it was too far away. Then she had an idea.  
  
Niagera brought the knife down. Rouge touched the Emerald in her hand against the Emerald still in its slot. They started to spark and glow. The knife was now mere inches away from her neck.  
  
Rouge summoned up the little energy she had left and shouted, "Chaos Control!"  
  
Time froze, the blade of the knife less than an inch from Rouge's neck. Suddenly, she was surrounded by a blue ball of energy. The world outside the bubble started to blur as she traveled through time. Only this time, she wasn't going forward into the future.  
  
She was going backward.  
  
To Be Continued.  
  
Gee, I stink at writing drama, don't I? This chapter was 'supposed' to be dramatic, but I can't write drama, so it turned out to be...something else. Bleh. Anyway, I left a bit of a cliffhanger there. Not as good as the last one, but still decent. Sorry about the fact that this chapter was so short. The next one will be much longer.  
  
All reviews accepted! 


	7. Defeating Niagera

I bet you're all raring to find out how Rouge saves Knuckles, so I'm not going to say anything!  
  
Disclaimer: See chapter #1  
  
Chapter 7: Defeating Niagera  
  
The world started spinning around and Rouge felt as though she was going to throw up. The energy bubble she was in was part of the Reverse Chaos Control, which reversed time instead of stopping it. This was only possible when the energy of two Chaos Emeralds was combined. Rouge's plan was simple: Go back in time and stop Niagera from killing Knuckles.  
  
***  
  
"Gimme your worst, you bastard!" Knuckles shouted.  
  
Niagera smirked. "That I will, echidna, that I will." He reached for the lever.  
  
"NO!"  
  
"Wha...?" Niagera arched an eyebrow and spun around. Rouge slammed her fist into his stomach, and he went flying across the control panel and landed on the floor, almost twisting his neck.  
  
Rouge stood there, breathing heavily. "I'm not going to let you kill Knuckles!"  
  
Niagera got up and brushed himself off. "Wait, weren't you just over there crying? How did you do that?" He looked at her oddly for a moment before continuing. "Well, fine then. I'll kill you first!" He reached for the knife in his pocket.  
  
Like lightning, Rouge flapped her wings and flew over to Niagera. She grabbed his arm and twisted it around his neck. "Don't bother reaching for your knife," she growled, digging into his pocket with her other hand, grabbing the knife and throwing it across the room.  
  
Niagera freed his arm and kicked Rouge against the control panel. "How you knew about the knife is a mystery, but I still have my gun!" he cackled, and aimed his gun at Rouge's forehead. "It's a 44-Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world! It'll blow your head right off!"  
  
"What is this? 'Dirty Harry?'" Rouge head-butted Niagera's hand, knocking the gun from his grip. It slid across the floor.  
  
"I'm not really myself today, am I?" Niagera mumbled.  
  
Rouge grabbed Niagera's leg and twisted it. Niagera lost his balance and fell to the ground. Rouge then flew up into the air and did a dive bomb. She slammed her head smack into his back, shattering one of his vertebrae. He let out a cry of pain. "That fricken hurt!" he shouted, "Those are irreplaceable!"  
  
"Oh yeah? Tell it to someone who cares!" Rouge snarled, and kicked Niagera repeatedly in the face.  
  
The prisoners watched in amazement. "Wow, look at her go," Topaz muttered, stunned.  
  
"She's really beating the crap out of Niagera," Sonic observed.  
  
"Go Rouge! Kick his ass!" Shadow called.  
  
Rouge stopped kicking for a moment and gave them the thumbs-up. Unfortunately, it was just enough time to allow Niagera to grab her leg and slam her against the concrete floor. Ignoring the pain from his shattered vertebrae, he got up and wearily headed to pick up his gun.  
  
Rouge spat out a broken tooth and got up. She saw Niagera limping toward his gun, so she headed for the cell. "Quick," she said, "How do I unlock this thing?"  
  
"Just pull out the pin!" Tails instructed.  
  
Rouge pried a tiny pin from the cell's lock. The electric lock deactivated itself and opened up. Rouge was about to open the door when Niagera grabbed her neck, lifted her up and slammed her against the cell wall.  
  
"Being a foot taller than you does have its advantages!" he hissed. "Now, Rouge, shall we open up old wounds?" He pressed the muzzle of the gun against a scar on Rouge's shoulder, where he had shot her two years ago.  
  
Rouge tried to pry Niagera's arms off of her neck, but his metal fingers had dug themselves securely into the wall. "Let me go!" she choked.  
  
"No, I don't think I will." Niagera put some pressure on the trigger.  
  
"TAKE THIS!" Shadow slammed his fist into Niagera's beak. He lost his balance and let go of Rouge. The gun fell from his hand and Shadow scooped it up.  
  
Niagera stumbled backwards. He finally grabbed a machine to balance himself and looked to see Shadow, Sonic, Amy, Tails, Topaz, Hammond and Philip forming a protective ring around the badly hurt Rouge. "Hey, how did you escape?" he demanded.  
  
"Rouge pulled the plug," Sonic said, "Or rather, pin."  
  
"Get him!" Tails bellowed. Everyone lunged at Niagera, who simply stepped aside, causing everyone to land on the floor.  
  
Niagera shook his head. "Poor pathetic idiots, have you forgotten that I still have the upper hand?" He pulled the detonator out of his pocket and pressed the red button. The buzzers and yellow lights on the bomb that was STILL strapped to Rouge started flashing. Niagera smirked. "You've got thirty seconds before it blows. Use them wisely!"  
  
Rouge panicked and pulled at the strap holding the bomb to her waist. "Somebody help!"  
  
Knuckles, who was still being held above the dish, heard her cry and looked down. Anger started building up inside of him. He glanced at the two robots holding him. "I've had enough of you two!" he said, and tugged at the robot's arms. The two robots slammed into each other and dropped the echidna. He landed on the dish and ran toward Rouge.  
  
"Fifteen seconds," Niagera cackled, covering his ears.  
  
Knuckles sped up to Niagera and grabbed the detonator. Niagera stared at him. "Where the heck did you come from?" he gasped. Then he was what Knuckles was going to do to the detonator. "Hey, wait, STOP!"  
  
Knuckles smirked and crushed the plastic device in his hands. The buzzing and flashing of the bomb stopped and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Rouge ran up to Knuckles and caught him in a huge embrace (the kind that Amy gives Sonic). "Knuckles! You're alive! Thank God!" she cried.  
  
"Yeah I'm alive," Knuckles said, "You saved me."  
  
While everyone crowded the two people, Niagera started to slip away. Philip and Hammond caught him. "Where do you think you're going?" Hammond snarled.  
  
Niagera started to sweat. "Um...the lavatory?" he said, nervously chuckling. Philip punched him in the beak.  
  
They picked the light duck up by the arms and brought him over to the crowd. They all smirked when they saw him. "Well, looks like we've won," Knuckles said.  
  
Shadow handed Niagera's gun to Knuckles. "Would you like to do the honors, Knux?" he asked.  
  
Niagera glared at him. "You won this round, you mean. Remember, echidna; I have more tricks up my sleeve than...than...oh forget it. JAMES! Get in here!  
  
Everyone's eyes widened. They'd forgotten about James. The robotic butler hovered over to them and dropped a small, spherical ball in the center of the group. "There you go, Master Dredmond," he said.  
  
The ball exploded. Black gas poured from it and blurred everyone's vision. Philip and Hammond dropped Niagera as they groped around the gas to find everyone else. Niagera saw his chance and escaped the black cloud of gas.  
  
"Come, James," Niagera called. James hovered next to them as they headed for the factory's exit. "We might have lost this time, but there's always a plan B. To the limo!"  
  
James pulled out a remote control from a small compartment in his metal body and pressed a button. Outside the factory, Niagera's Rolls-Royce limousine started up and the air-conditioning went on, just the way he liked it. The limo even had a cocktail set, too!  
  
They reached the exit and ran through the door. Niagera slammed it shut and entered a security code on the electronic lock. "I'd like to see them get through that!" he said, and ran toward his limo.  
  
A pair of legs unfolded from beneath James' body so he could reach the pedals of the car. He hovered over to the limo and opened the rear door. Niagera entered the vehicle and sat down on the large, dark red leather seat. "Thank you, James, now bring me to the storage building," he ordered.  
  
James nodded and climbed in behind the wheel. He slammed his foot on the gas pedal and the car shot forward across the parking lot. Niagera spotted Rouge's Mini Cooper a ways ahead. "James, please ram into Rouge's car," he said, relaxing in the leather seat.  
  
"Sir?" James asked.  
  
"You heard me."  
  
James shook his head and turned the wheel. The large limo spun around and crashed right into Rouge's small car, completely tearing it in half. Niagera chuckled. "The Mini, what a pathetic car," he cackled, "And not a scratch on my Rolls-Royce. That'll show Rouge how much I...uh...hate her. Oi, I'm at a loss for words toady."  
  
"You know, sir, the Mini Cooper and Rolls-Royce cars are both built by the same company," James said.  
  
Niagera sneered. "Shut your yap and head for the storage building. I've got some business to attend to." He reached over and flipped up a veneer panel on the side console. Under the panel were the controls for the read radio and air conditioning. Niagera flipped a large silver switch next to the radio controls.  
  
The cocktail set folded down into the center console and more veneer panels flipped up, revealing several computer screens and various switches that wirelessly operated machines in the factory. Niagera picked up a wireless keyboard and started entering security codes.  
  
"I'll lock all the doors in the factory, they won't be able to get out," he said, "Not only that, but I can set off the bomb strapped to Rouge. It should kill them all no matter if they already found a way to get it off her, it is filled with nitroglycerine, you know."  
  
"Acknowledged, sir," James replied.  
  
"Good." Niagera entered another code into the computer. "And now, Rouge will go BOOM!" He laughed maniacally and hit 'enter.'  
  
***  
  
The black gas finally cleared, leaving everyone's eyes puffy and red. "What was that?" Tails mumbled.  
  
"Not tear gas, but something like it," Shadow replied, rubbing his eyes.  
  
"Hey! Where's Niagera?" Knuckles demanded.  
  
"Aw crap! He must've escaped when the gas fogged everything up!" Amy exclaimed.  
  
"Well, we gotta go get him!" Hammond and Philip said in unison.  
  
The whole group started running toward the exit when the bomb still attached to Rouge's waist started buzzing and blinking. "Dammit, it's armed!" she cried, "Somebody help me get it off!" She started picking at the metal buckle.  
  
"Maybe I can disarm it," Tails said. He approached Rouge and studied the bomb. "Uh-oh, it's sealed, I can't get into the wires. And to make matters even worse, it's filled with nitroglycerine!"  
  
Everyone gasped. (A/N: See? More pathetic drama.) "Then we've gotta get it off!" Sonic shouted. He grabbed the belt buckle and started yanking at it. "It's too strong, I can't get it off!"  
  
"Let me try," Knuckles said. He cracked his knuckles and grabbed the buckle. In one quick yank, he tore it loose. "No problem," he said, beaming.  
  
Amy and Shadow ran up to the group. "Bad news, guys," Shadow said, "We checked the exit. It's locked and the security pad is jammed."  
  
"Niagera must've done it using a computer," Amy said.  
  
"Now how are we gonna get out?" Topaz asked.  
  
"Why don't we think about that AFTER we disarm this bomb?!" Rouge shouted. She pointed to the bomb that Knuckles was holding. It was still buzzing and beeping.  
  
"Holy crap!" Knuckles cried, and tossed the bomb to Sonic.  
  
"Hey, I don't want it," Sonic said, and tossed it to Philip.  
  
"Get it away from me!" Philip roared, and tossed it back to Knuckles.  
  
"They're playing Hot Potato with a nitroglycerine bomb...great," Tails mumbled.  
  
Amy suddenly had an idea. "Hey! Let's just use the bomb to blow the exit open?"  
  
"Gimme that!" Topaz grabbed the bomb and threw it at the sealed exit. It hit the door and got caught on the doorknob. "Everyone duck and cover!"  
  
Everyone ducked and covered. The bomb exploded, effective blowing the exit—as well as the whole wall—to smithereens. Shrapnel flew everywhere and slammed into the machinery like small meteors, crashing through them and destroying them. The blast blew the group halfway across the factory floor.  
  
When the ruckus settled a few minutes later, the whole side of the factory had been destroyed, leaving a more-than-large-enough hole for the group to escape the factory. "Come on!" Knuckles ordered, "Let's go get Niagera!"  
  
***  
  
Niagera climbed into the cockpit of his giant robot-thingy and grinned. "That explosion definitely got rid of them," he said, "Now to get on with taking over the world!"  
  
"Uh, sir, you might want to see this," James said, pointing to a security monitor. The screen showed nine people running across the factory parking lot toward the storage building.  
  
Niagera practically ripped his feathers out. "How the hell did they survive that explosion?!" he roared. "It's UNCOMPREHENDABLE!"  
  
"Easy, Master Dredmond, you can just destroy them with your giant robot," James said.  
  
Niagera instantly calmed down. "You're right," he said, "Time to take the Miner 49'er for a little spin!"  
  
***  
  
The group ran through the factory's parking lot searching for Niagera's limo. "Where did he go?" Sonic asked, "He couldn't of gone far!"  
  
"I don't know, but we have to find him!" Knuckles shouted.  
  
Suddenly, the ground started shaking. The group stopped running and looked at the storage building in the distance. It started to collapse. Dust and dirt filled the air and a roar could be heard. When the dust cleared, everyone stared at a huge silver robot on treads where the building had previously been standing.  
  
"What IS that thing?" Amy gasped.  
  
The robot raised its arms and brought them down upon the ground, which shook again. Long spider-web like cracks spread across the parking lot. "Aw man, I've had enough of these robots," Sonic mumbled, "I just fought one of Eggman's stupid contraptions a month ago."  
  
A voice came through the robot's loudspeakers. "Hello, all," Niagera shouted, "Do you like my creation? I call it the Miner 49'er, after the miners caught in the Gold Rush. I started developing it ten years ago as a way to cut into mountains to make cheap and effective diamond-producing mines, but I've modified it a few times since then. Now it's a hard-core killing machine, and I'm not going to hesitate to use it on you, echidna!"  
  
The robot slowly started to roll toward them on its treads. Niagera's maniacal laughter blared over the loudspeakers. "Who does he think he's kidding? That thing doesn't even have any weapons," Tails said.  
  
The robot's arms suddenly transformed into huge drill bits and aimed for the group. Tails shrugged. "Oh..."  
  
"Okay," Knuckles ordered, "You three, Topaz, Hammond and Philip, go to the President's mansion and get some backup quickly! The rest of us will fight this mechanical menace!"  
  
"Right!" Topaz saluted Knuckles and the three ran off across the parking lot, away from the oncoming robot.  
  
"Knux, any ideas on how we're gonna defeat this thing?" Sonic demanded.  
  
Knuckles shook his head. "No. Let's just get in there and destroy it!" He started running toward the robot, but Rouge grabbed him.  
  
"Look," she said, "The cockpit is at the top of the thing. Niagera's probably in there, so we need to find a way to get there!"  
  
"The Cyclone!" Tails suggested. "Amy and I will get the Cyclone and come back to help you! In the meantime, Rouge will try and fly you guys up to the cockpit!"  
  
"Good plan!" Shadow said, "Let's do it!"  
  
Amy and Tails ran after Topaz and the other two, away from the robot. Sonic, Shadow, Knuckles and Rouge turned to face the oncoming machine. "Aw, what's the matter?" Niagera called, "Why is everyone abandoning you? Is it because they're scared?!" He laughed again.  
  
Sonic curled into a ball and shot himself at the robot. Niagera was too busy laughing and didn't see him coming. Sonic slammed into the machine, which shuddered and creaked under the impact. Niagera stopped laughing. "Okay, time to get rid of these pests. James, activate the N-Ray!"  
  
"Yes, sir." James, who was sitting next to Niagera in the cockpit, pressed a few buttons on the console. The giant robot's left arm reached toward the factory and picked up the whole N-Ray unit as if it weighed nothing. The array heated up and blasted a huge hole in the parking lot.  
  
"Well, we know it works, so let's use it!" Niagera headed the robot toward the group.  
  
"Now he's got the dish!" Shadow said, "Come on, we have to destroy it!"  
  
Rouge grabbed Knuckles and flew into the air. Sonic aimed another homing attack at the dish. Shadow activated his hover shoes and followed Rouge.  
  
The robot flailed its arms, trying to knock Rouge and Knuckles out of the air. "Careful, Rouge!" Knuckles called. "Drop me right onto the dish!" Rouge nodded, but before she could drop Knuckles, the dish fired another white-hot laser at them, knocking them out of the sky. They slammed into the ground.  
  
"That's two down, two to go!" Niagera aimed the dish at Sonic.  
  
Sonic ran and jumped into the air. He streaked through the sky and crashed into the dish, but didn't go through it. "You can't break through the metal of that dish like with other robots!" Niagera called.  
  
Sonic peeled himself from the dish and started doing small homing attacks, denting the metal and almost knocking the Chaos Emeralds out of their slots. "At this rate, I'll be done by next Easter," he mumbled.  
  
The dish suddenly became very hot as it fired another laser. The metal was scorching, and Sonic flew off of it. "YOW! That's hot!" he said, blowing on his hands. Unfortunately, he failed to notice he was flying through the air. He slammed into the ground next to Knuckles and Rouge.  
  
"Now it's just you, Shadow," Niagera hissed. He aimed the dish at Shadow, who was aiming a homing attack at the cockpit's glass windshield.  
  
He turned up his hover shoes and thrust himself at the cockpit. "I'm gonna crash right through the glass, duck, and when I do, I'm gonna kill you!" he shouted.  
  
"Not only does he narrate his plan to me, but he also is not aware that this glass is a foot thick," Niagera cackled. He watched in delight at Shadow crashed into the windshield, flattening himself against it.  
  
"Ow...damn, that hurt," he spluttered, and started to peel himself from the glass.  
  
"Ugh, it's like a giant bug," Niagera said in disgust, and activated the windshield wipers. They peeled Shadow off the glass and he slammed into the ground far below next to Sonic, Rouge and Knuckles.  
  
"The glass is too thick, I can't shatter it," Shadow mumbled.  
  
Knuckles picked himself up and ran toward the robot's treads. "You piece of crap! Take this!" He started punching the tread, denting it and breaking a few links.  
  
Niagera smiled and leaned back in his chair. "This was too easy," he said, "Now all I have to do is wait for the laser to heat up again and I can destroy them once and for all." A small pinch of pain shot throughout his body. "Ow...fricken shattered vertebrae." He rubbed his back and winced in more pain.  
  
James suddenly saw a blue jet flying toward them. "Um, sir, we have some trouble headed our way!" He pointed to the Cyclone.  
  
Niagera smirked. "Mr. Prower is starting to bug me," he said, "I'll just have to do away with him."  
  
"Tails, aim for the cockpit!" Amy called.  
  
"Right!" Tails pulled on the control lever and pressed a button. Several missiles shot out from under the Cyclone's wing. They headed for the giant robot and exploded. The robot shook, but quickly balanced itself.  
  
"Uh-oh, it didn't work," Tails said. Suddenly, the whole plane was grabbed by one of the robot's huge mechanical hands and held in place, even with the jets blasting at full power.  
  
"Honestly, Mr. Prower, you've really undermined my creation," Niagera said over the loudspeakers, "Nothing can penetrate the metal that this machine is made out of!"  
  
"Tails, fire one at the windshield," Amy ordered. Tails nodded and fired another missile, which was just able to squeak through the fingers of the hand. The missile headed for the cockpit.  
  
"Uh-oh," Niagera muttered.  
  
The missile hit the glass and exploded, shattering it. Glass flew everywhere. Niagera ducked under the control panel. The explosion shook the whole robot, which toppled over. The factory's remaining wall broke its fall and the machine tried the balance itself, but it was too heavy. It dropped the Cyclone, which fell out of the air and hit the ground, almost breaking in half.  
  
"Knuckles, now's your chance!" Sonic called, "Get to the cockpit!"  
  
"Right!" Knuckles called. Rouge picked him up off the ground and flew him over to the destroyed cockpit. "Drop me in!"  
  
Rouge dove into the cockpit with Knuckles, narrowly missing the shards of broken glass. Niagera was still hiding under the control panel. "Eh...Knuckles! Thank you for coming to rescue me!" he said, trying to act thankful.  
  
Knuckles grabbed him and slammed him against the console. "Save it, Niagera," he hissed, "You owe Rouge and I an apology, I hope you know!"  
  
Niagera tried to pry Knuckles' hands off of his shoulders, but he was too weak. "Agh, darn pneumatic pistons...Rouge! Try to talk some sense into your boyfriend!"  
  
Rouge walked over and punched the duck in his beak, almost breaking his jaw. "And furthermore," she said, and reached for his Rolex. She grabbed it, tore it from his wrist and threw it on the ground. It shattered.  
  
Niagera glared at the fractured remnants. "Not again! Get off me!" He finally pushed Knuckles off of him and slammed his fist into a large orange button. Alarms went off and lights started flashing.  
  
"Self-destruct in ten seconds," a robotic voice said. Niagera and James tried to jump out through the broken windshield, but Rouge and Knuckles caught them.  
  
"Oh no!" Knuckles hissed. "If we go down, you're coming with us!"  
  
***  
  
No sooner had Rouge and Knuckles infiltrated the robot's cockpit when a huge explosion tore the machine apart. The dish was ripped to pieces and the seven Chaos Emeralds, and the Master Emerald, were hurled into the distance. (A/N: I don't want to bother explaining where they went, so just think that the Master Emerald flew back to the shrine and the seven Emeralds flew to places unknown.)  
  
"What happened?" Tails asked as the group ran from the explosion.  
  
"Niagera must've had a self-destruct unit in the robot!" Sonic replied, dodging a piece of shrapnel.  
  
"Does that mean that Knuckles and Rouge are...gone?" Amy asked.  
  
"I'm afraid so," Sonic answered.  
  
They stopped running and watched as the smoke from the explosion cleared. When it did, they saw the charred remnants of the robot, twisted and mangled against the factory wall. They hung their heads. "At least Niagera's also gone," Shadow muttered.  
  
"Hey? What's wrong?" came a voice.  
  
Everyone looked up to see Knuckles being supported by Rouge as they limped toward them, both badly bruised and cut up. "It's a miracle!" Amy exclaimed, and ran over to them.  
  
"How on Earth did you survive that huge explosion?" Shadow asked, dumbfounded.  
  
Knuckles grinned, showing three spaces where his teeth had been knocked out. "This is a fanfic, anything can happen in a fanfic," he said. (A/N: Aha! Some pathetic humor! Just thought I'd put it in there...)  
  
"How did you really escape?" Tails asked.  
  
"Knuckles grabbed James and used his metal body to cover us. He's actually pretty durable," Rouge said.  
  
"Is Niagera dead?" Sonic asked.  
  
"Yes," Knuckles and Rouge said in unison.  
  
"THAT'S WHAT YOU THINK!"  
  
Everyone turned around to see Niagera standing behind them, his once bright white suit now pitted with burn marks and holes. His left arm was sparking and leaking oil as he limped toward them. "Okay," he hissed, "Now I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna show any mercy!" He reached inside his torn suit and pulled out a small handheld gun. "I always keep a spare," he said, aiming at Knuckles.  
  
Niagera was about to pull the trigger when he stopped and dropped the gun, staring at what was behind Knuckles and the group. "What's wrong?" Knuckles asked, "Afraid to shoot me?"  
  
"Actually, he's afraid of us." Everyone spun around to see Topaz, Hammond and Philip standing on top of a tank. They had brought the entire military, and all the guns were aimed at the billionaire.  
  
"Hmm, convenient," Shadow said.  
  
Hammond jumped off of the tank. "Okay, duck, surrender now or we'll fire!" he called.  
  
Niagera shrugged. He had finally been defeated. He had gotten this far only to be shot down. "Okay," he said, "I surrender! I admit you defeated me! What else do you want?"  
  
Three troops ran toward Niagera and handcuffed him. "You're coming with us," one of them said.  
  
Niagera rolled his eyes. "I'd rather ride in my limo, thank you very much," he hissed. The second troop smacked him in the back of his head.  
  
Knuckles halted them. "Let him go," he said.  
  
Everyone gasped. "WHAT?!" Rouge roared. "He tried to kill both of us as well as Sonic and Amy and Tails and...and...all of us! Why do you want to let him go?!"  
  
Knuckles smirked. "Think about it. If he's in jail, he won't have to bother facing everyday life anymore, which means he won't be humiliated in public or spat at by everyone. Rather than that not happening, I want people to do that, it'll remind Niagera of his mistakes."  
  
"Of course!" Niagera said, "Please, somebody spit on me! Wait, I'll do it myself!" he started dribbling on his suit. "And to add to the humiliation, I can turn over a new leaf! I'll become a good guy, I promise! Just don't put me in jail!"  
  
Knuckles shrugged. "On second thought, take him away."  
  
"Wha...wha...WHAT? Hey! Wait! I can pay for this!" Niagera insisted.  
  
"Save it!" Amy spat.  
  
"I'll pay three billion dollars to the government as an apology!" Niagera continued.  
  
"Won't work," Shadow said.  
  
"Come on! I'm the richest man in the world!" Niagera roared.  
  
Topaz elbowed him in the stomach. "Make it five billion and we have a deal," she said.  
  
"Fine! Anything; just don't put me in jail!" Niagera said.  
  
The three troops released him and took the cuffs off. Niagera cleared his throat and walked over to Knuckles. "Okay, Knuckles, listen, because I'm only going to say this once: I'd like to declare a truce," he said.  
  
Knuckles eyed him suspiciously. "How do I know you're not lying?" he asked.  
  
Niagera laughed. "If I'm lying, let lighting strike me this very second!"  
  
Lightning struck him that very second.  
  
"Ow...I DIDN'T MEAN LITERALLY, GOD!" Niagera bellowed.  
  
"I knew you were lying!" Knuckles growled, "I'm not declaring any truce with you!"  
  
Niagera extended his hand. "Please, Knuckles, declare this truce and I will never try to kill you again! ...Wait, did I just say 'please?!'"  
  
Knuckles grabbed Niagera's hand and shook it before he could pull it away. "Okay, Niagera, I declare a truce," he said.  
  
"Good. This doesn't change anything, though. I still hate you," Niagera said.  
  
"And I hate you, too."  
  
Niagera arched an eyebrow. "Very well, I shall be heading home now. Topaz, tell Mr. President he'll find a check for five billion dollars in his mailbox tomorrow."  
  
"He had better," Topaz growled.  
  
Niagera cleared his throat again. "I'll be seeing you later. Right now, there's a lot of restoration that needs to be done on my mansion," he said. Everyone watched as he walked toward his limo (which was still in perfect condition despite the mauled parking lot) and sped away. James suddenly popped up out of a pile of rubble and hovered after him.  
  
"Wait for me, Master Dredmond!" he called.  
  
Everyone laughed, except Rouge. "And you're just letting him get away like that?" she asked.  
  
Knuckles shrugged. "Sure, after all, if he tries something else he knows I'll kick his butt!" Rouge seemed to accept the answer.  
  
"Well, isn't this a happy ending," Shadow said, "Now what?"  
  
"The President has just phoned me," Philip said, "He's prepared a banquet for the heroes, namely, you guys."  
  
Sonic gave Tails a high-five. Amy jumped up and down and squealed in delight. Shadow just stood there...like he usually did most of the time.  
  
Knuckles, on the other hand, thought that this banquet would be the perfect time to finally propose to Rouge.  
  
To Be Continued.  
  
That was a long chapter; 14 pages. Even with my fast fingers it took me a week to write it. I know it's not very descriptive, but this is a short story. Save the descriptions for the epic novels.  
  
All reviews accepted! 


	8. Knuckles' Proposal

And now, here's the moment you've all been waiting for: Knuckles proposes to Rouge! Just to let you know, this chapter isn't very long.  
  
Disclaimer: See chapter #1  
  
Chapter 8: Knuckles' Proposal  
  
The group pulled up to the Presidential mansion in Shadow's old, clunky checker after they had gotten cleaned up and dressed up. The President greeted everyone at the door and ushered them into a large banquet hall. A long table was set up piled high with food for after the award ceremony.  
  
"Oh boy!" Amy squealed, "We're finally going to be awarded for saving the world after all these years!"  
  
"I don't think this time counts as saving the world. After all, we only got rid of a single pest who was out to get Knuckles and Rouge, not the whole world," Shadow said.  
  
"Yes, but he might've tried to take over the world after he got rid of us," Tails said.  
  
Sonic was over at the table stuffing chilidogs into his mouth. Knuckles approached him. "Hey, Sonic?" he said.  
  
Sonic stuffed the last chilidog into his mouth before turning to Knuckles. "Hey, Knuth, wath up?" he asked through a mouth full of food.  
  
Knuckles hesitated for a moment. "Sonic, I'm...uh...going to propose to Rouge tonight after the awards ceremony," he said.  
  
Sonic spat the food out and grinned, slightly stunned. "Really? That's great! Good luck!"  
  
Knuckles continued to stare down at the floor. "Thanks, but I'm really nervous. I was...uh...hoping you could give me advice on what I should say?"  
  
"What? At the party a few weeks ago you said you had this proposal worked out for months," Sonic said, "Why do you need me to tell you what to say?"  
  
"I'm so nervous that my mind kind of went blank," Knuckles replied, "I have no idea what I'm supposed to do, besides the whole thing with the ring; I know that part."  
  
Sonic thought for a moment. "Just tell her how much you love her, how much she means to you, stuff like that. Then get down on your knee."  
  
Knuckles looked across the room at Rouge, who was conversing with Topaz. "Are you sure that's enough?"  
  
"For a person like Rouge? Not even close," Sonic said. He gave Knuckles a pat on the back. "Just do your best, I know she's gonna say 'yes.' I bet she has no idea that you're even thinking about proposing to her at all."  
  
Knuckles smiled. "Thanks, buddy. I'll do my best. If she turns me down, I'll just have to live with it," he said.  
  
"Ahem," someone said. Knuckles and Sonic spun around to see Shadow standing behind them grinning. "Come on, the award ceremony is about to begin! We have to get to the President."  
  
Knuckles and Sonic nodded and walked with Shadow over to the President's podium in a raised corner of the room. Rouge, Tails and Amy were already there. "What were you guys talking about?" Rouge asked.  
  
"Um...nothing!" Knuckles said, nervously. Rouge eyed him suspiciously. Knuckles pulled on the collar of his tuxedo to cool himself off. This proposal was going to be tougher than he thought.  
  
"May I have your attention?" The President called. Everyone in the room turned and faced the podium. "Thank you. Tonight we have gathered here to award these brave young citizens of Station Square for defeating an enemy that threatened our whole country." Then he added in a quieter tone, "Although they let him go free, we should still recognize their bravery.  
  
"First, I would like to thank Sonic the hedgehog," the President continued, "We all know he's saved us countless times from Egghead...I mean Eggman, but what the heck?" The President walked over to Sonic and placed a small medal around his neck. Sonic beamed and vigorously shook the President's hand.  
  
"Thanks, Pres,' it's an honor to be awarded by you!" he said.  
  
The President pulled his hand away. "You're quite welcome, Sonic. Second, we have Miles Prower, who, along with Amy Rose, did some major damage to Niagera's giant robot with his plane, the Cyclone." He put a medal around Amy's and Tails' neck.  
  
"Oh thank you, thank you!" Amy cried, and gave the President a huge hug. Tails pried her off.  
  
"What the heck is wrong with these people?" The President mumbled under his breath. "And third, I'd like to thank Shadow the hedgehog for his heroic deed in rescuing Ms. Rose from a rockslide while trying to find the Chaos Emeralds."  
  
Shadow bowed and let the President place the medal around us neck. "Thank you, Mr. President," he said, and calmly shook his hand.  
  
"At least there's one sane person in this group," the President mumbled under his breath again. "Ms. Rouge the bat, who had to endure the terrible task of being Niagera's hostage, also played a major part in defeating him as well, I award you with this medal...and quadruple your standard pay!"  
  
Rouge beamed and took the medal herself.  
  
The President then turned to Knuckles. "And our big hero, Knuckles the echidna, you are awarded the Medal of Honor." He placed a large gold medal around Knuckles' neck. It was larger than the ones given to the rest.  
  
Knuckles was grinning from ear to ear as he looked at his medal. It was the first time he had actually been awarded for something. "Thank you, thank you very much," he said, and looked over at Rouge. She leaned over toward him and kissed him on the cheek. There were snickers and giggles from the audience.  
  
"Okay," the President said, holding back a small laugh, "Now that that's over with, let's eat!"  
  
Everyone ran to the banquet table like a stampede of rhinoceros. Sonic started stuffing more chilidogs into his mouth. Knuckles sat next to him and placed a small grapevine on his plate. Shadow took a whole huge piece of steak and Tails took some chicken. Amy was too busy ogling at her award.  
  
"Aren't you going to propose?" Sonic whispered.  
  
Knuckles looked over at Rouge. "I...I will in a minute. Come on, Sonic, this is very difficult for a person like me, you know that."  
  
Sonic rolled his eyes. "While you're at the podium, just imagine everyone in their underwear," he said.  
  
Knuckles glared at him. "What? There are ladies here! I'm not going to imagine everyone in their underwear! ...Except Rouge, maybe."  
  
Sonic spat out his food and howled with laughter. "That's the first joke you've made since the party a few weeks ago!"  
  
"Hey, what's so funny?" Rouge called.  
  
Sonic instantly stopped laughing. "Nothing!" he called back. The he turned back to Knuckles. "Go up there and do it! You've only got a half an hour more, you might as well do it now."  
  
Knuckles plopped a grape into his mouth. "I guess I should. Okay, I'm gonna do it. Wish me luck." He took a deep breath, got up and walked over to the podium.  
  
"Excuse me, Mr. President? Can I use the podium for a minute? I have a special message for someone here," Knuckles asked.  
  
The President nodded. "Sure, go ahead."  
  
"Thanks." Knuckles got behind the podium and brought the microphone down to his level. "Excuse me, everyone," he called.  
  
Everyone stopped eating and turned to look at him.  
  
Knuckles continued. "Um...I have something I'd like to say. Rouge, will you please come up here?"  
  
Rouge gave him and odd look and got up to walk over to him. As she walked, Knuckles thought vigorously about what he was going to say. "What do you want?" Rouge asked when she arrived at the podium.  
  
"I have something I'd like to ask you, and I think tonight is the perfect night to do so," Knuckles replied.  
  
"Sure, as away," Rouge said.  
  
Knuckles took a deep breath. For a moment, his mind went blank. He was at a loss for words. 'What do I say?' he thought. A minute later, he finally thought of something. 'God, this is gonna be tough.'  
  
He took another deep breath before continuing. "Okay, Rouge. You see, when I first met you before the ARK incident, you were a real pain to me, what with trying to steal the Master Emerald and all. But at the same time, there was something special about you. I had no idea what it was until a few years ago, after the incident at Dredmond Manor. It was Sonic who finally told me that I was in love...with you."  
  
Rouge smiled and blushed, a little embarrassed that Knuckles was saying all this in front of a crowd.  
  
Knuckles took yet another deep breath and continued his proposal. "When I thought about it, I could see he was right. Rouge, you have given me more company and happiness that I've ever had from anyone else. Even during the ARK incident, you wouldn't leave me alone. You were always at my side, and for a while. I wondered why. I finally realized that you were in love with me, too. I didn't know how good I had it with you, and I still don't. Rouge, you're the most amazing, energetic, intelligent and beautiful women I've ever met, and I'd be honored if you spent the rest of your life with me."  
  
Everyone gasped, even Rouge. She had no idea he was going to do this right here, right now.  
  
Knuckles wiped some sweat from his forehead and slowly got down on one knee. He reached for the small black box in his pocket and flipped it open so that Rouge could see the diamond. "What I'm trying to say, Rouge...is...is..."  
  
Rouge almost burst into tears. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.  
  
"Will you...will you marry me, Rouge?" Knuckles finally popped the question.  
  
Everyone was silent for a moment. Rouge was stunned. Did he really just ask her the question of questions? Yes, he did. And she wasn't about to turn the most wonderful man on the planet down.  
  
Knuckles was waiting for a response. Why wasn't she answering? Was she going to turn him down? No, she couldn't; after all, she loved him as much as he did her.  
  
The audience was stunned. The fact that Rouge wasn't answering was a sure sign that she was going to turn him down.  
  
Rouge finally ran it through in her mind. She was sure the answer was the right one.  
  
"Yes, Knuckles, I will marry you," she answered.  
  
Knuckles' eyes widened. She said 'yes!' He couldn't believe it! The one person who meant the most to him had just agreed to spend the rest of her life with him! He could barely contain himself.  
  
"YAHOO!" Knuckles exploded and hurled himself at Rouge, catching her in a huge embrace. He started kissing her again and again and again. Rouge simply smiled and let it all come to her. The audience erupted in applause.  
  
"You the man, Knux!" Sonic roared, and started whistling like a madman.  
  
"Congratulations, Knuckles!" Shadow and Tails called.  
  
"Aww, isn't that romantic?" Amy cooed.  
  
The applause was still going strong after a few minutes. Knuckles stopped kissing Rouge and gazed deep into her eyes. "When was the last time I told you I loved you?" he asked.  
  
Rouge thought for a moment. "About five hours ago, in Niagera's factory," she replied.  
  
"That's way too long," Knuckles said, "I love you."  
  
Rouge kissed him on the cheek. "And I love you, too." She said.  
  
The End.  
  
***  
  
AND THE CROWD GOES WILD! WHOOT! Ahahaha! I know you all loved that ending; you can't deny it. After all, how many Knux/Rouge stories have been written where Knuckles actually proposes? I've only read two or three. I guess I'm special for doing another one!  
  
Anyway, I hoped you all enjoyed this story. It's short, I know, but I like writing short stories. Thanks to all my reviewers!  
  
Special thanks to SapphireWhiteTiggress. I was going to stop this story when I began "Sonic on 'The Apprentice,'" but your reviews kept me going! For those of you who want some more Knux/Rouge, you should read Sapphire's 'Emerald Quest,' it's awesome!  
  
But anyway, stay tuned for this story's sequel, 'Sub-Sonic Adventure,' coming in a week or two. See my BIO for further information.  
  
Once again, I hope you enjoyed this fic. Thanks for reading.  
  
All reviews accepted! 


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